The Foundling
by Neuropsych
Summary: New Campers story... new character coming and who knows how things will get shaken up?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I'm not making any money off this and no copy write infringement is intended. It's all in fun and I don't claim any of the characters that I didn't invent. (Although I do claim those that I did). That said; enjoy!_

OOOOOOOOO

_**The Foundling**_

President Jack O'Neill couldn't hide the amused grin on his face – and didn't bother to try.

"So much for _Alexandria_, huh?"

Ian Brooks knew he was being teased, but was in far too good a mood to take offense – even if he'd been so inclined. Instead, he shrugged at the image in Atlantis' main view screen and smiled.

"We'll call him Alexander instead."

Jack nodded.

"I imagine Cassie's not too happy… She was determined she was going to get a girl this time."

Another shrug, but Ian's dark eyes were as amused as Jack's – and filled with the same pride and amazement that all new fathers had.

"She says it's my fault."

"Is it?"

"Beats me. _She's_ the doctor, not me. If she says it is, then it probably is. You should see the _hair_ on this kid, though, Jack. Redder than any I've ever seen."

"Must come from her side, huh?"

"There's nothing like that in _my_ family," Ian agreed. "Are you going to drop in?"

Jack scowled, reminding Ian that he'd wanted to be there the day before, when Cassie had finally gone into labor.

"Soon as your dad decides to come home. Next time you kids decide you're going to have a baby, try not to time it in the middle of a seventeen nation security summit, okay?"

Ian grinned.

"We'll try to do better next time."

O'Neill snorted.

"I'd better get back to it. Tell Cassie I love her, okay?"

"Will do."

"I'll see you as soon as I can."

"I'll tell Sam."

"You do that. O'Neill out."

Ian waited until the screen was blank, and then turned away and looked over the command center of Atlantis. Several of the operations staff were watching him and most of them were smiling – or at least looking amused. He was in too good a mood to scowl or attempt to cow them and he really didn't have any reason to.

"I'll be in the infirmary if you need me."

One of the technicians nodded and Ian left.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Are you _sure_ he's Ian's son?" Janet asked, looking down at the baby that was sleeping in her arms.

Cassie Brooks smiled, wanting him back so she could cuddle him, but knowing that her mom wanted some time with the new baby, too.

"Pretty sure, yes."

Sam chuckled.

"He must get that hair from you…"

"Or from your folks," Janet said, looking over. "There's always that consideration, after all."

Cassie nodded.

"I don't remember my mom or dad having red hair, but it's possible that my grandparents might have… I had to get it from somewhere – and so did he."

"What are you going to name him?" Sam asked, peeking over Janet's shoulder at the newborn. After seeing the twins, the red hair really was shocking, she decided. But it was only fair that one of their offspring get some of Cassie's coloring.

"We _were_ going to name her Alexandria Janet," Cassie told them with a smile for her mother. "But that wouldn't go over very well, now. Maybe Alexander – or Alex. I'll ask Ian."

"Ask Ian what?"

They all turned and found that Ian had joined them without any of them noticing. Not surprising, of course, since all their attention at the moment was on Cassie and the new baby. Which was just how it was supposed to be.

"What we're going to name him," Cassie said, turning her head so he could kiss her when he crossed the room to do just that.

"Ian Brooks _Junior_?" Sam asked, finally holding her arms out so she could have the baby for a minute. It was all well and good to let Janet hold him, but grandmother or not, she couldn't hog the baby all day.

"Ugh."

Ian wasn't the only one to display a lack of enthusiasm for that particular name. Of course, they'd already gone over that when the twins were born, so it wasn't much of a conversation.

"I'd rather name him Alexandria Janet," Ian told Sam, looking down at his son, who was still sound asleep in her arms. He glanced over at Cassie. "Alex?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Alexander, though. I like it better."

Ian liked it, too, although he didn't tell her why. Instead he just nodded.

"Alexander what?" Sam asked.

"That's up to Cassandra," Ian replied. He'd already told her that he was going to go along with whatever she wanted to name him.

Cassie shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll let the boys decide…"

Janet rolled her eyes, and Sam caught the look and smiled, but resisted the urge to laugh, since she didn't want to wake up the baby.

"That's a good idea," Ian said. "If we want his middle name to be Hamburger, or _A&W_ or something like that."

Cassie smiled.

"We'll use veto-"

"_Unscheduled gate activation! Colonel Brooks to Stargate Operations! Repeat Unscheduled gate activation! Colonel Brooks report to Stargate Operations!"_

Ian barely said goodbye to them before sprinting out of the room, well aware that everyone in the ops room had known exactly where he was going and wouldn't have called for him unless it was an emergency.

The baby in Sam's arms woke with a startled little gasp and Sam quickly handed him over to his mother.

"I'll be back," she told them, hurrying out to see what was going on as well.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note: I'm not spoiling anything by telling you guys that Alex is Ian and Cassie's son, so no worries on that score!_

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Ian hadn't made it more than twenty feet down the hall before River's voice came over his com set, urgent and more agitated than he could ever remember hearing the Californian sounding.

_"Ian! I need you in the Gateship bay immediately!"_

Which meant it was some kind of medical emergency, obviously – especially when one of the techs in the operations room came over the citywide intercom a moment later.

_"Medical team to the Gateship bay! Repeat, medical team to the Gateship bay!"_

Ian had already changed direction, running full tilt towards the closest transporter. He ran right by Sam, who had changed direction when she'd seen him change his, clearly well aware that he'd been called – even though she wasn't wearing a com set and didn't know who had called him or why.

She was still in pretty good shape, and although she wasn't anywhere near as fast as he was, she didn't have as far to run. She ran through the doors just as they were closing, and looked over at him taking advantage of the brief pause.

"What's up?"

He shrugged, looking at the door impatiently.

"River said he needed me."

"Must be medical, then. What's he working on?"

"His team and Sheppard's are checking out a planet Rodney found the other day."

"What kind of-"

The door opened before she could finish the question and they both off like they were shot out the door, Sam's question dead on her lips. Luckily, the transporters were directly tied into the Gateship bay, so they were where they needed to be. The Gateship was just landing in the center of the bay and a quick glance told Ian and Sam that it hadn't been fired on as near as they could tell. Which meant a different kind of medical emergency.

The rear of the ship lowered, and River's blonde head poked out, turning toward them.

"_Ian_! Get over here!"

River Hayden's team was technically a search and rescue team. All of them were well trained as pilots, all had the Ancient gene – River was the only one who didn't have it naturally – and they were the best at precision ops that Ian had ever seen, since sometimes they were rescuing people who were prisoners of some pretty nasty bad guys.

Right now, all of them were piling out of the Gateship, except one, and all of them were covered in blood and pale. The one still in the ship was on the floor of the cargo area, with a strange woman sprawled limply across the floor, her head in his lap.

"Hurry, sir…" he told Ian urgently.

Sam gasped at the sight of the woman. Clearly pregnant – _very_ pregnant – she was also covered in blood and so pale that it was obvious where all the blood that was splattered on River's team had come from.

Ian didn't hesitate. He ran up the ramp and immediately put his hand on the first bare skin he could find – her leg. Sam knew right away, though, that it was too late for her. Ian's shoulders slumped, and he started to move his hand away.

"She's dead, River…"

"The baby?" River asked, kneeling beside him, the knees of his BDUs now soaked in the blood that was pooling under the woman. "What about the baby, Ian? Can-"

Ian's hand froze and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Jesus!" He looked around, his hand tight against the woman's leg, now, and clearly distracted. "It's alive. We need to deliver it…"

Sam held her breath, her stomach clenching. There was no way they were going to get a dead woman to deliver a baby. Ian had to know it. She felt like she was going to be sick, but Ian didn't hesitate.

"Give me your knife, Hayden."

The Californian hesitated only a moment before pulling the knife from his belt. He looked green and pale at the same time – but resolved as well. Just like Ian.

"You're going to cut it out of her?" River asked.

Ian scowled, but still looked sick.

"Do you have a better idea?"

He didn't, of course. He just couldn't believe what they were going to do.

"You can do it without hurting the baby?" Sam asked.

"The baby's fine," Ian assured her, his focus more on whatever he was doing to keep it that way than on the conversation he was having. "We've got to get it out, though. Her blood will poison it if we-"

"Keep him alive," River said, clenching his jaw. "I'll get him."

Ian nodded.

"Hurry."

It was one of the most horrific things Sam had ever witnessed, but she couldn't turn away as River used his knife to cut open the belly of the dead woman and pulled the baby from her womb.

"Oh my God…"

The Marine who still had the woman's head in his lap pulled off his jacket and wordlessly handed it over, and River used it to start wiping the blood and other fluids from the baby's body. It hadn't made a noise, and he was concerned that Ian was wrong about it being alive.

"Ian…?"

"Give him here, River."

He couldn't hand the baby over fast enough – although he was as careful as he could be.

"Is it alive?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." He turned to River. "Cut the cord."

Still looking pale – which was saying something considering how tan he was – River carefully cut the umbilical cord, separating the baby from the mother.

"Who is she?" Sam asked, curiously, watching as the Marine pulled himself out from under the woman and reached into his tac vest for an emergency blanket, which he used to cover her.

"No clue, Ma'am," came the reply – Ian and River were both focused on the baby just then, but there wasn't a secret that Sam wasn't authorized to hear, so the Marine knew he could answer the question. Of course, in this case, there wasn't a secret that needed to be kept. "We found her on the planet."

"Like that?"

"She was still alive when-"

He was interrupted when Carson Beckett and Janet Fraiser came rushing over with a medical team and a gurney.

"What's going on?" Carson asked, already sizing up all the members of River's team and noticing the blood, but not seeing anyone even wincing – although most of them looked pale. Of course, Sam did, too. "Where's my patient?"

Ian handed the bundle over to him, and finally they heard a soft whimper coming from it. Carson almost dropped it in surprise.

"What have we here?"

Ian was covered in as much blood as the others by then, and he wiped his hands on his shirt, trying to get the blood off.

"We know what it is, Carson," he said. "The question is where did he come from."


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's note: So this might not be the most exciting chapter, but it's a necessary one._

OOOOOOOO

Carson left with the newborn protectively cradled in his arms, but Janet and the medical team stayed with the gurney to examine the dead woman and remove her from the Gateship with as much dignity as they could still afford her.

"Where did she come from?" Janet asked River, leaning over and examining the woman's face. She looked human enough, with long wavy dark hair and skin that would have been pale even before death made it almost translucent. She was also slim, a little taller than average and dressed in clothing that had obviously seen better days.

"We're not sure," River admitted, his face still pale and bleak. "We found her on the planet that McKay found – but she doesn't look anything like the people that used to live there. They're all darker, and a lot shorter."

"_Used_ to?" Ian asked.

"They're all dead," the Californian told him. "She was the only one alive."

"How many people are we talking about here?" Janet asked as she gestured for the medical team to put the woman on the gurney.

"It was sparsely populated," River replied. Of course, with the Wraith still a threat pretty much every planet was sparsely populated. "But there were still probably a hundred thousand people."

"Are you serious?" Ian asked, surprised.

"What killed them?" Janet asked at the same time. "The Wraith?"

River shook his head, watching as the medics covered the woman's body with a white sheet they'd brought with them.

"We don't know – at least they hadn't figured it out when we left to bring her here." He looked over at the gurney. "McKay is going through some of the buildings in what looks like their main city. He might find something."

"Do you need to get back?" Ian asked him.

River shook his head. He was bloody, and wanted nothing more than a shower and a change of clothes. Not to mention they would need to give the maintenance team a chance to clean out the floor of the Gateship.

"Not right away. I need to get cleaned up and then I want to go check and see how the baby is doing."

"You might want to introduce him to his Godson, too," Janet pointed out, glad to have a happy subject to switch over to – even if it was only for a moment.

"Godson?" River echoed. "Cassie had the baby?"

Ian smiled.

"About 18 hours ago. A little boy."

"I thought you said she was going to have a _girl_," River told him, a smile creasing his handsome face.

"I was wrong," Ian told him with a shrug. "Get cleaned up and come meet him."

Janet looked the New Yorker over.

"_You_ might want to clean up, too," she advised him. "Cassie wouldn't react well to seeing that much blood."

He was covered with the stuff, too, after all.

"Right." He looked over at the gurney. "You'll take care of her?"

Janet nodded.

"I'm going to run some tests on her – just to see if there's anything we need to know about her that might help us with the baby."

With that she turned and followed the medical team out of the Gateship bay, heading to the medlab while Ian and River both headed for their quarters to change.

OOOOOOOOOO

Alex had fallen asleep by the time Carson entered the medlab with the bloodstained wrapped baby in his arms. Cassie looked up, surprised, and frowned.

"What's that? What's going on?"

A soft squealing noise made her look down at the baby in her arms before she realized that it hadn't come from him.

"Carson?"

"The lads found a pregnant woman," Beckett told her as he unwrapped the baby at one of the sinks and with one arm reached for a stack of clean towels. "She didn't make it, but Ian managed to save the baby."

Curious, Cassie settled Alex into the bassinet they'd prepared for him and got up. She was still a little sore, but her delivery hadn't been a hard one and she'd been through it before and knew there was nothing abnormal about the way she was feeling. She walked over to where Carson was working and watched as he first washed the baby and then rubbed her with a warm, soft towel to stimulate her.

"Is she all right?"

She wasn't crying; only making that same soft squealing noise that sounded more like a kitten than a baby.

"She's very tiny," he replied, looking the baby over and comparing it to the other newborns he'd ever seen. "Ian wouldn't have let her go, though, if he hadn't been sure she was breathing on her own."

Cassie had to agree to that.

"Where is he?"

"Last I saw he was with Janet. He shouldn't be long."

"Is she human?" Cassandra asked, curiously. The baby was tiny, yes, but she was also a little different – at least she seemed that way to Cassie. And they were in the Pegasus system after all. There were just as many non-human races as there were humans.

"_Humanoid_ at least," Carson replied, examining the little one for noticeable differences. "We'll run a full check up on her just to see, but I'm more worried about keeping her alive than what exactly she is."

Cassie nodded her agreement to that, and took the baby from Carson when he finally wrapped her in yet another warm towel. She was too tiny for a blanket.

"Let's run some tests on her. If it seems safe enough, there's no reason she can't be put with Alex – at least for now."

Carson had been thinking the same thing but hadn't really known how Cassie would react if he'd brought it up. He was relieved that she thought of the idea, too. Especially since Atlantis was not set up for dealing with babies. Only a very few had been born there – Cassandra's twins being the first and last, aside from the latest arrivals – and one Athosian who hadn't made it back to the mainland before delivering – much to Sheppard's chagrin, since he'd been the one who had found her in advanced stages of labor and had ended up delivering that particular baby himself.

Most of the scientists didn't have parents who had security clearances, and on the rare occasions that they found themselves expecting, they'd wanted to be near family for the births. Which had meant going home.

"That's a good-"

He was interrupted by the arrival of the medical team pushing a gurney that held a covered body and a blood soaked sheet. Janet was right behind them, and she threw Carson a look that told him she would check out the woman if he wanted her to.

He nodded, and then turned his attention back to the tests he was going to run on the baby.

"Let's find out more about you, wee one," he murmured to her, and her eyes opened for the first time at the soft tone of his voice – or maybe because she was ready to open them and take a look around. Whatever the reason, Carson found himself staring into the bluest eyes he'd ever seen – especially on a baby. He smiled for the first time since he'd carried her into the medlab and reached for a needle to take a blood sample.

They needed to figure her out.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: Sunday is my birthday so I don't know how much I'll be around. Since it's also Father's Day my mom wants me to go spend some time in Tacoma with her and my stepdad and I'm inclined to do just that. So enjoy this chapter!_

OOOOOOOOO

The rooms Ian shared with Cassie and their two boys were spotless. It was a holdover from Ian's own habit of always picking up after himself – something Cassie was pretty good at doing and something that the twins were learning as well, simply by watching their parents. Not that their bedrooms wasn't as clean, but the outer rooms were, at any rate.

At the moment they were also empty. Maggie Brooks had decided to steal her grandsons once Cassie's due date loomed closer, knowing that the boys might feel left out when the new baby was born. She was very good at keeping boys occupied and always loved the time that she had with them. Since the feeling was entirely mutual as far as Carter and Michael were concerned, it worked out well both ways. Except that Ian missed them. Especially in light of what he'd just experienced with Hayden.

He showered and changed into a clean uniform and ended up meeting River outside the entrance to the medlab. The Californian still looked a little damp from his shower, but he wasn't pale any more Ian was relieved to see. There was still a haunted look in his expression that had never been there before, but cutting a baby from his dead mother wasn't something that a person could do so readily without at least having some kind of shock factor. No matter how well trained you were. Ian understood that, and he knew River did as well.

"Should have brought a cigar," River told him as they reached the entrance, clearly ready to discuss Alex and not what they'd just done.

"Cassandra wouldn't let either of us smoke it."

"Good point."

When they walked in, Cassie was out of the bed Ian had last seen her in. The bassinet beside that bed had an occupant, though, and with a quick smile to his wife, and a nod to Carson, he and River walked over to where Alex was sleeping contentedly.

"_Red_ hair?" River asked, grinning and looking down at the baby and back up to Ian, his eyes glancing at the New Yorker's dark hair. "Who'd have _thunk_ it?"

Ian scowled.

"Cassie had red hair, dipshit."

"Not _that_ red."

"Don't listen to him, Ian," Cassie told him, coming up behind him and putting her arms around him and resting lightly against his back while they looked down at their newest arrival. "He's jealous."

River snorted, leaned over and kissed Cassie lightly on the cheek.

"He's adorable, Cassie."

She smiled.

"Thank you."

"So who's the father?"

It was Ian's turn to snort, while Cassie slapped River's shoulder in mock indignation.

"Just for that, you can't help the twins decide what his middle name will be."

Hayden made a stabbing through the heart motion with his hand, but then glanced over where Carson was examining a small bundle at one of the other beds.

"How's the other baby?" he asked, the cheerfulness in his expression clouding a bit. "Did he make it?"

"_She_…" and Cassie hesitated long enough for them both to catch the correction. "Is alive and kicking. Carson is running some tests on her now to see if it's safe to put her with Alex."

"She?" River repeated. He looked over at Ian. "I thought it was a boy?"

Ian shrugged.

"I didn't check. Did you?"

"No."

"You'd think a couple of Air Force officers would be able to tell the difference," Cassie told them with an amused glance for both of them.

"Can I see her?" River asked, looking over at Carson once more.

She nodded.

"Go ahead."

Ian joined him as he walked across the room, but he hung back just a little when he saw that Janet and Sam were examining the baby's mother in another room. He started to turn and go ask them some questions when Carson handed the tiny newborn to River, who smiled tenderly down at her as he brought her over for Ian to get a look at her.

"Look at those blue eyes…" he murmured, looking down at the baby, who was looking up at him, dazed.

"Brighter than yours," Ian added, smiling down at her, too. She really was a cute baby, now that she was cleaned and not covered in blood and goo. Ian wondered if her eyes would always be that blue, or if they'd change to a different color when she got older. Her skin was pale and her hair was almost as dark as Ian's was. Just like her mother's.

The baby started fussing just a little, but River didn't panic the way Ian might have before he'd had kids of his own. The Californian had raised his sisters practically, and was very comfortable with babies and small children. Even better than Ian was. He simply cooed her and cradled her up against his chest, bouncing her slightly.

Cassie had joined them by this time, and her smile was tender when she saw River holding the baby.

"I always knew he'd lose his heart to a girl some day," she murmured to Ian. "I just never expected that girl to be so young."

Ian grinned, and left River to his cooing, while he walked over to talk to Carson with Cassie. It was good for River to spend time with the baby. It was a way to remind him that what he'd done to her mother had had a very good purpose.

"So? What did you find out?" he asked Beckett. "Is she okay?"

"Aye, she seems to be." He looked over at where River was now floor walking, pacing with the baby to keep her in motion. "She's _not_ human, though. Not like us, I mean."

Ian frowned.

"She looks pretty human."

"What is she, then?" Cassie asked.

"As near as I can tell…" he muttered, looking down at the test results he had so far. "I'd say she's Ancient." He saw the surprise in their eyes. "I'll know more when Janet finishes examining the mother. Including what we'll be able to feed the baby. Until then-"

_"Colonel Brooks, please report to the Gateship bay. Repeat, Colonel Brooks, please report to the Gateship bay…"_

Ian frowned. There was no urgency in the call, which meant it was probably Sheppard's team returning with information. Hopefully. He looked over at Cassie.

"Are you okay here?"

She nodded.

"We'll come find you when we have something to report."

"Okay."

He glanced over at River, who was thoroughly engrossed in what he was doing, and just shook his head. He could bring him up to speed once he knew more. With another quick look at his newborn son, he left the medlab and headed for the Gateship bay, this time at a far more sedate pace than the last time.


	5. Chapter 5

They held the briefing in one of the regular meeting rooms. Sheppard and the others stopped by the infirmary long enough for Carson and his medics to check them out and then they went and changed into clean uniforms while Rodney set up his laptop and all the information he was going to need to tell Brooks and the others what was going on.

Ian didn't rush them, despite the fact that he really would have liked a little while to spend with Cassie and Alexander. The exam was regulations and he knew they'd all feel better after having a shower and a change of clothing. He'd seen how pale they'd all looked when they'd returned and knew from River's initial report that it must have been pretty bad on the planet. Considering how much Sheppard's team had seen in their time it made Ian wonder what could have been there.

He didn't have to wait long.

"We came through the land-based Stargate at the southern end of the north continent," Rodney told him – and Sam, who had decided to sit in on the debriefing as well. Janet was finished with her examination of the woman and was planning on joining them as soon as she had all of the results from the tests she'd run. "The probe we'd sent earlier told us that there wasn't a large population near the gate."

"Which made us think that they probably don't use their Stargate," John Sheppard added.

Rodney rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, Colonel Obvious." He turned back to Ian and Sam. "The land approach was to give us a chance to observe the population before being detected, since they might have actually seen us coming through the atmosphere if we'd entered through the space gate."

"Wait a minute," Sam interrupted, her expression confused. "They have _two_ gates?"

McKay nodded.

"I picked up on that, too. Which was one of the reasons I wanted to check this planet out." He looked smug. "Another reason is because it's not listed on the Ancient's star charts."

Ian frowned.

"What? Why not?"

"Either they didn't want people to know about it – people who had access to their files, that is – or they didn't know about it, themselves."

"It has two Stargates," Ian pointed out. "They knew it was there."

"That's what I said," Sheppard said, glancing over at McKay who rolled his eyes.

"So that leaves that they didn't want people to know about it," Sam murmured. "Why not?"

"That was one of the things we were hoping to find out," Rodney said. "We were going to find a likely spot to set down and see about making contact with someone."

"But when you got there everyone was dead?"

"_Almost_ everyone," Sheppard corrected. "Whatever happened to them, it was violent – and it was everywhere."

"Aerial?" Sam asked.

Sheppard shrugged.

"We didn't see any indication of that. The level of technology wasn't that high – the only weapons we saw were basic firearms. Nothing that would have protected them from whatever was used to blow up their buildings. Whoever – or whatever – did it, could have come through either gate."

"The population was decimated," Rodney told them, looking a little green at the memory. "Men, women and children… whatever or whoever this was, they didn't want survivors."

"And it _wasn't_ the Wraith," Sheppard added. "For obvious reasons."

"What about the woman?" Sam asked.

" I'm not sure," Sheppard admitted. "We found the her trying to bandage up one of the locals. He was still breathing, but barely, and she didn't look any better off. He didn't make it, but we thought if we got the woman to you she might have a chance."

"Janet said she thought the woman was an Ancient," Sam said, looking over at Ian. "Wouldn't she have been able to just heal him?"

He shook his head, but Rodney was the one that answered her.

"Not as injured as she was. Especially not pregnant. She would have been risking her own life and that of the baby if she'd even tried – especially since he was so far gone."

"But she probably wasn't one of the invaders, then," Ian pointed out, completely confused. "Not if she was alone, injured and trying to help the locals."

"Not to mention no army I've ever heard of brings very pregnant women with them when they go out to make war." Sheppard added.

"Good point."

Teyla had been silent up until then, listening to the debriefing but not adding anything to the conversation. Finally, though, she spoke.

"There have been stories…" she began, drawing everyone's attention.

"Stories about what?" Sheppard asked.

"A hidden world." She looked over at Ian. "I first heard of it when I was a child – my father passed the story on to me. About a world that held strange people and a powerful danger that they guarded."

"A weapon?" Ian asked.

"A power source?" Rodney asked at the same time.

Teyla shrugged.

"They are _stories_," she repeated. "The only reason I bring it up is because the people of this world reminded me of the description my father gave me of the ones who were supposed to be guarding this danger."

"Danger?" Sam echoed. "Are you certain that is the word as you heard it?"

Teyla nodded.

"I am certain it is the word my father used. But he did not see this world himself, it was a story that was passed down from many generations before – and might not be real."

Sheppard looked at Ian.

"We never thought Atlantis was real, either," he pointed out. "Until we got here."

Ian nodded his agreement with that.

"We're definitely going to want to take another look at this place," he told them. "But I don't want to do anything until we're certain that there's no danger to us from the environment of the planet itself. As soon as Janet-"

The door opened and Janet walked in, with River Hayden beside her and a folder in her hand. Laptops were all well and good for reports, but she preferred to have paper in hand when discussing medical issues.

"Sorry I'm late," she told them as the Californian went over to sit beside Ian and she moved to stand near McKay.

Ian shrugged her apology away.

"How's the baby?"

"Sound asleep next to your son."

Which made him smile – and she couldn't help but smile, as well.

"What did you find out about her mother?" Sheppard asked.

"She's a hybrid. Ancient and human – much like Shawn Adams."

"So she might not have been able to heal the natives, even if she'd been healthy," Ian said.

"It also explains why she didn't Ascend…" Sam added.

Ian looked over at Sheppard and McKay.

"Did you guys find any kind of power source or weapon?"

McKay shook his head.

"We didn't do more than a quick scan before we realized what had happened and changed the point of our reconnaissance," he replied. "But I went over the data the scans gathered and I didn't see anything that would indicate any kind of power source."

"But you weren't looking really hard," Sheppard said.

Rodney looked like he wanted to dispute that, but he couldn't.

"No, not really. If there is something there, it could be in some kind of passive mode – sleeping," he added.

"We know what passive means, McKay," River told him.

Ian looked over at Janet.

"Is there anything about the woman to indicate that the planet might not be safe for us?"

She shook her head.

"The baby is healthy enough to be with Alex, and she was exposed to everything her mother was. If you're going back, though, I'd like you to bring me one of the natives of this planet."

"Why?" McKay asked, curiously.

"I want to do an autopsy and see if they're Ancient, too."

"They don't look Ancient," he told her.

Sheppard had to nod his agreement to that.

"Just bring me one back," Janet said, ignoring the comment.

Ian nodded.

"We can do that." He looked over at River and then to Sheppard. "We'll take two Gateships. Your team in one, River and myself in the other. That way we can cover more area."

"Sounds good."

River nodded his agreement, but Ian wasn't surprised.

"We'll meet up in the Gateship bay in half an hour."

That would give him time to let Cassandra know where he was going – and sneak another peek at his newborn son.


	6. Chapter 6

The Gateship emerged from the Stargate only an instant after the one Sheppard was flying. River looked over at his copilot, who was bringing up the HUD and pointedly _not_ looking out the forward view.

"How do you want to do this?"

The HUD brought up an image of the area of the small planet that the sensors on the Gateship could read – with a few spaces that seemed to be blank spots. Places that the sensors couldn't penetrate for one reason or another.

"We'll go latitude and send Sheppard longitude."

River nodded, and reached up for his comm., but before he could call Sheppard to let him know the plan Ian spoke up again.

"And if this thing rolls once, you're going to be shuttling garbage for the next month."

The Californian grinned, knowing that his friend was absolutely serious.

"Trust me."

"I _do_ trust you. But unless you want to wear my breakfast, you'll do as you're told."

He did, too, but River was an exuberant guy, and that transcended into his flying as well. Always ready to show off – especially when he was in anything that handled as well as the Gateships did – he tended to get a little cocky. At least, too cocky as far as Ian's sensitive stomach was concerned. The other pilots loved it, which was fine, as long as he didn't have to fly with them.

"Roger."

He turned his attention to calling Sheppard, and Ian switched his to looking at the HUD and programming the sensors to look for anything out of the ordinary.

OOOOOOOOO

The sensors were some of the most sensitive in the known universe, but after about an hour – and four passes around the little planet – they didn't know much more about the place than they had when they started. It was about the size of Earth's moon and covered with mostly towering mountain ranges blanketed in pristine snow. The atmosphere was close to Earth's, but they knew that already from the probes McKay had sent before they'd even considered going for a look. The places that weren't mountainous were sheltered valleys which showed some signs of cultivation; orchards in the foothills and a few crops that the sensors showed might be somewhat related to wheat and potatoes on Earth.

After the fourth pass Ian looked over at River.

"You said there were a hundred thousand people here?"

"Right."

"What'd they survive on? What we've seen isn't enough to sustain that kind of population."

"There were a couple of fair sized cities on the shore of the sea," River answered. "Maybe they did a lot of fishing."

"You're sure of the headcount?"

"We didn't count them one by one," came the reply. "But the figure was conservative."

Ian frowned, looking at the display once more.

"Let's run by one of those cities."

River nodded and banked the little ship, his radio coming to life as he advised Sheppard where they were going and suggested if they were finished they could join up with them.

The city was a fairly large one as River had said. Most of the buildings weren't more than two or three floors high, but the place stretched out along the shore of one of the two main bodies of water for several miles until the beach turned into a sheer mountainside that could only be inhabited by birds and mountain goats. In the other direction the sandy beach turned into rocks that were fairly large and intimidating. Certainly nothing someone would want to sail a ship near. Not if they valued the bottom of their craft, anyway.

"Any particular place you want to land?" River asked as they hovered.

"Somewhere on the beach is fine."

It would make it easy for Sheppard to find them.

The landing was as smooth as he could have asked for, and Ian double-checked the Glock in his holster as he got out of the co pilot chair and hit the control that would open the rear hatch. The air that came in certainly smelled like the seashore, and he and River could both hear the squawking of seabirds even from inside the ship. They hesitated at the top of the ramp and River looked around.

"Looks like a beach to me."

He'd know if anyone did, Ian had to admit.

"Do you feel that?" Ian asked, frowning as he looked around.

"What?"

The New Yorker walked to the bottom of the ramp and looked over toward the sheer mountain, concentrating on trying to figure out what he felt.

"Almost like a warm spot…" he muttered, turning in every direction to see if he could figure out where it was coming from.

"It's the _beach_, Ian," River pointed out. "It's supposed to be warm…"

"I know."

It didn't stop him from continuing to look around, though, and River hesitated, trying to feel it, too. He was still trying to feel it when the other Gateship landed about thirty feet away.

"Let's go see if they found anything," Ian said, still distracted and looking around – although his gaze continued to return to the mountain down the beach.

As they walked over, the ramp lowered and Sheppard and his team filed out, Rodney holding a life sign detector while Sheppard and the others looked around warily at first, always looking for a trap or some kind of danger.

Ian started to say something, but Sheppard frowned.

"What is _that_?"

McKay looked over, quickly.

"What?"

"You don't feel it?"

"Is it a warm spot?" Ian asked.

John's frown didn't fade as he was quiet for a moment, trying to decide if that was the best way to describe what he was feeling. Ronan Dex scowled, looking for anything that might be a trap or a danger, and Teyla looked around curiously.

"Yeah. It kind of is, isn't it?"

"I don't feel it," Ronon said.

"Nor do I," Teyla agreed.

"It's there," Sheppard said. "Feels kind of… _tingly_." He looked over at Ian to see if that was a good description and the New Yorker nodded.

"Right."

"Do you feel it, Rodney?" Teyla asked.

McKay, however, wasn't paying attention. He was looking at the device in his hand.

"This is wrong…"

"What is?" River asked, his hand moving down to his holster.

Rodney looked around.

"Think about it," he told them, his face pale. "There were hundreds of dead people here only a few hours ago. Do _you_ see any dead people? I don't."


	7. Chapter 7

That, of course, caused all of them to start looking around. Surprised that any of them had missed what should have been obvious, Ian scowled and looked over McKay's shoulder at the life signs detector.

"You're _sure_ there were dead people here?"

Rodney's scowl was a match for his own.

"They were all over the place. I haven't seen one since we got back. Have you?"

"We haven't been looking."

But they should have. Especially considering the scene that had been described to them in the briefing.

"There were people in the streets," Sheppard confirmed. He turned and looked toward the city. "We should check it out…"

"Right."

"They couldn't have just vanished," McKay told them.

"There'd still be a lot of blood," Teyla pointed out. "Even if someone came along and picked up all the corpses, they couldn't clean the mess…"

"It could be a trap," Ronon said, looking around suspiciously, his hand going to the weapon he carried at his side.

Sheppard cocked an eyebrow.

"What are you trying to catch if you use dead people as bait?" he asked.

Ian had been ignoring them. Not that he wasn't listening; he just wasn't really paying attention to what was being said. His gaze went back to the steep mountain down the beach. The warm spot he'd felt when he left the Gateship was still there.

"We should check it out," McKay told them before Ronon could answer. Rodney was pretty sure he didn't even want to know the answer to that particular question.

"Ian?"

River had noticed the way Brooks was watching the mountain, and he knew something was pulling his attention that way.

"We should check out the city," Ian agreed.

"You think there's something in that mountain?" Sheppard asked, coming over to stand by him.

Ian looked over at him.

"Why do you ask that?"

"Because it still tingles," John replied. "And it tingles more than ever when I look over there…"

"What do you mean by tingle?" Teyla asked. "I feel nothing."

Rodney looked down at the sensor in his hand.

"It doesn't show anything."

"Maybe you have to have the Ancient gene to feel it?" Ronon asked.

McKay rolled his eyes.

"Hayden and I both have the gene, too," he pointed out. "I don't feel any tingling."

"Me, either," River agreed. He looked over at Ian. "Still feel it?"

"Yeah."

"Me, too," John added. "It's actually a little uncomfortable."

"Maybe we should go check it out."

"Let's check the city, first," Ian said, looking over at Sheppard to see if there was going to be any kind of disagreement. "If something or someone moved the bodies I don't want them behind us anyway."

Good point.

"Hayden, you and McKay fly cover in one of the Gateships," John told River. "We'll start out on foot so we can look through some of the buildings for any sign of survivors or anything else that might be out of the ordinary."

"Think we missed something?" Ronon asked.

Sheppard shrugged.

"I was a bit distracted last time. It's always possible."

Dead people will do that to you every time.

"Keep a close eye out," Ian reminded McKay.

"Don't worry, I will."

Which was the whole point of putting him in the air, after all. That and the fact that he wasn't as good a shot as Ronon or Teyla.

OOOOOOOOO

They didn't search the whole city, of course. It was a big place and there weren't very many of them. The first few houses that they entered were empty, but all of them showed signs of having been occupied. In the first one there was actually a meal on the table – but all the chairs around it were upended and some of the dishes were broken on the floor.

There weren't any casualties, though. Not even any blood.

The same held true in the other houses they searched. Signs of struggles – mostly broken furniture or crockery – and a couple of doors that had been knocked down from the outside, even though one had been barred with a fairly large piece of wood. In every one, however, there were no people, was no blood or any signs of anyone aside from those who lived there.

"This is crazy," Sheppard said, frustrated, after they'd moved into the city about half a mile. "I _know_ there were casualties here. We had them everywhere. We would have noticed if there weren't any."

"But where are they?" Teyla asked, equally frustrated.

"River? Are you guys picking up anything?" Ian asked.

"_Just you four," _came McKay's answer almost immediately_. "No signs of life other than the indigenous creatures for as far as the sensors can reach."_

Which was pretty far since they were in the air.

"What about the mountain I was looking at earlier? Anything coming from there?"

"_It's a blank spot, Ian,"_ River replied. _"Something is blocking it from us – we can't get an exact reading."_

"No signs of life?"

"_Not that we can see,"_ McKay told them. "_But we can't see much. It could be that the rocks the mountains are made of are simply impervious to our scanners. It wouldn't be the first time we've had that happen, you know. How about down there? Anything?"_

"No. Looks like everyone was swallowed up by the air," Sheppard answered.

"What do you want to do?" Ian asked John.

He shrugged.

"There's nothing here. Let's go see if what's going on with that mountain."

Ian tapped his comm unit.

"River, we're done here. Find a good spot to pick us up and let's head over to that mountain."


	8. Chapter 8

"Seriously, I don't know what you're expecting to find up here…"

Ian shrugged; looking back out the front viewscreen at the snow covered mountain range they were flying over. They were all in one of the Gateships, since they'd decided that it was better to keep together for the moment than take advantage of having more than one ship. True, in two they could have run a criss-cross pattern which would have covered more ground, but they were only covering one area of the mountain range at the moment and it didn't require more than one ship, really.

Sheppard had taken over as pilot since he outranked River and much preferred to be the pilot than a passenger, and Ian hadn't given up his position as copilot, even though he didn't much appreciate the view. He wanted to be close to the displays and the controls that monitored them. For all the good that it had done, thus far.

The Gateship saved them quite a climb, but there hadn't been anything but more rock and snow at the top of the sheer cliff, and they'd criss-crossed the area several times before Rodney had finally decided he'd had enough aimless searching and had spoken up.

"You have a better idea?" Ian asked him. "Something is different about this area and I want to see if we can figure out what it is."

"The rocks give you and Sheppard a tingly feeling," McKay said. "Big deal. Maybe it's some kind of EM discord coming from the planet's poles that's bouncing off the rocks and just happen to rub the two of you wrong."

"And no one else?" River asked.

McKay shrugged.

"They could be more sensitive."

Being sensitive wasn't something Ian was usually accused of. Before he could say anything, though, Sheppard looked over at McKay.

"What's with you? Why are you being so negative about all this?"

"I'm not being negative," McKay told him, defensively. "I'm just a little creeped out, okay? Dead bodies don't just get up and walk away."

"_Zombies_ do," River pointed out.

Rodney rolled his eyes.

"That's cute."

"Did it occur to you, Rodney, that we might be picking up on something you're not?" Sheppard asked.

"Why? Because you're both Colonels?"

"How about because we're both natural gene carriers – as opposed to having it synthetically?"

That brought McKay up short – something that didn't happen all that often – and it was clear he hadn't even considered that possibility.

"You think that might be it?"

"How should I know?" Sheppard replied. "But it's something to think about."

"Well what about all the missing dead people?"

"I don't know about that, either. We'll-"

"We've got a signal," Ian interrupted, bringing the discussion to a quick halt.

All of them looked at the HUD and Rodney looked down at his laptop, which he'd hooked into the Gateship's systems.

"What kind of signal?" Ronon asked, clearly ready to define whether there was a threat or just something the scientists would be interested in.

"Just some kind of blip," Ian replied, tapping on the keypad of the control panel. He looked at the HUD again, but there was no directional beacon – just a warning that something was different.

"Where's it coming from?" Sheppard asked, looking around below them as well as he could – and using the HUD's display as well.

"It's coming from below us," McKay answered.

"How do you know that?"

Sheppard knew that Rodney's laptop didn't get any more information than the HUD did, and the HUD wasn't telling them any such thing.

"Where else could it be coming from?" McKay demanded. "We've already been everywhere else and no-"

Before he could finish what was going to be a very logical dissertation, he was interrupted by a flash of red that was so bright he almost dropped the laptop in order to cover his eyes. It vanished a moment later, but in the moment it took him to see around the odd discolorations the red left in his sight, the alarms on the Gateship started blaring, and suddenly the little ship plummeted.

The reason became obvious in an instant, but it actually took the remaining occupants of the little craft more time than that to react to the fact that two of them were suddenly gone.

"_Shit!"_

River was quicker to react than McKay, and he dove into the pilot seat that had up until that red flash been occupied by John Sheppard. Now it was empty. He was gone, and so was Ian Brooks.

The alarms faded as soon as the Ancient ship realized that there was an Ancient pilot once more, and Hayden leveled the ship out at their present altitude.

"What happened to them?" Ronon asked, looking around as if he expected someone to jump out from one of the panels and attack them.

"It was not the Wraith," Teyla asserted just as quickly. She'd jumped up and taken a step forward from the seat she'd been in, but there hadn't been time to voice a warning or anything. One moment the two were there. The next moment they were gone.

"It can't be a coincidence," McKay said, sitting down in the co pilot seat and pulling his laptop down near at hand. "Sheppard said it himself; they're natural gene carriers…"

River scowled.

"Well, who took them?"

He sure as hell wasn't going to let whomever it was keep them.

"I don't know."

"Well figure it out, McKay. Isn't that what they pay you the big bucks for?"

Rodney didn't even bother replying. He was too busy examining the sensor database from the moment of the disappearance.


	9. Chapter 9

"You've _got_ to be kidding me…"

Sheppard groaned and rolled over, looking around. Wherever they were – and it certainly _wasn't_ seated in the forward section of a Gateship – they were surrounded by rock in every direction with a floor made of dirt that he'd managed to get a mouthful of when they came crashing into it.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered, looking over at Ian, who was sprawled beside him.

Usually being beamed in and out of someplace wasn't so bad – if you could ignore what was happening to your cells while it was happening – but this time they'd gone from a sitting position in comfortable chairs to floor mats in only an instant.

"Beaming device," Brooks said, unnecessarily, rolling over as well and pushing himself upright into a sitting position. His face was just as grubby as John's felt, with gritty dirt everywhere – and a bump over his eye where he must have hit it when he'd landed. His uniform was dusty, but there wasn't any sign of blood anywhere – which was a good sign as far as he was concerned.

"Not a very nice one," Sheppard complained, getting to his feet unsteadily and pulling Ian the rest of the way as well. "You okay?"

"Well, I'm _not_ a happy camper," the New Yorker told him, trying to dust off his clothes. "But I'm not hurt. You?"

John took a quick inventory of aches and pains and decided he didn't have anything broken. He didn't even seem to be bleeding.

"I'm fine."

They both grew quiet as they looked around, each of them with hands near their holsters for easy access to the guns they were wearing. Too bad they hadn't been carrying P-90s when they'd been kidnapped.

The room they were in was huge. Easily the size of the Gateship hangar on Atlantis, but completely empty as far as they could both tell. The walls were rock, and as smooth as glass from what they could tell by the one they were closest to. They went on for as far as they could see, and then some.

"We're inside the mountain," Ian decided.

"Only place we can be," Sheppard agreed.

"The question is who brought us here."

"And why."

There was another hesitation as they waited to see if someone unseen was going to answer that, but they were still alone as far as they could tell.

"I don't tingle anymore. Do you?"

Sheppard frowned, taking stock.

"No. Think that means we're not inside the mountain?"

Ian shrugged.

"Looks like a mountain to me."

Sheppard tapped his com unit.

"McKay, this is Sheppard, come in…"

There was silence in both of their earpieces. There wasn't even static.

"He's probably not receiving you," Ian told him. It didn't stop him from trying as well, though. He tapped his own unit and repeated what Sheppard had said, but included a hail to River as well as Teyla and Dex.

There wasn't a response.

Sheppard sighed, looking around the vast cavern they were in.

"There's gotta be a way out."

Ian nodded, double-checking the load in his Glock – just to make sure.

"Let's find it, then."

OOOOOOOOO

"We need to find them."

"I'm working on it," Rodney said, tapping the controls of the Gateship's main computer link a little harder than was absolutely necessary.

"Were not our shields up?" Teyla asked from behind him. "As well as the cloak?"

"Yes to both of those," River replied.

"Then it would seem as though whomever took Colonels Brooks and Sheppard were able to spot us despite them."

Rodney scowled.

"Obviously."

"So who could do that?" Ronon asked, annoyed and tense. He didn't like things that he couldn't explain – and he hated the fact that he didn't have a lot to contribute to figuring out what had happened to the others. "Not the Wraith – or anyone else I've ever met."

"That's the hundred dollar question," Hayden replied, looking at the HUD, which was responding to McKay's commands and bringing up a sensor scan of the entire area. River tapped the communications control, fairly certain he wasn't going to get any sort of response, but needing to try anyway. "Ian? Colonel Sheppard? Are you reading me?"

He was right; there wasn't an answer – even though they thought there was some kind of static. The people in the little ship all held their breath, waiting to see if anything came in clearer, but the static was gone in an instant, leaving dead silence.

"Damn it."

"There wasn't much chance they were going to respond," Rodney told him reasonably. Well, what he thought was reasonably. Usually that turned out sounding condescending – and it did this time, too – but River was used to McKay and far too easy going to take offense with him most of the time.

"So what do we do?" Ronon asked.

"We need to make sure they're not somewhere on the ground," Rodney said, before River could speak up. "That means we need to make a few passes of the area – just to be sure we cover it all."

"Do you think we should call for help?" Teyla asked. "More people might make the difference."

River shook his head – and so did McKay.

"We might lose more gene carriers if we bring more people here," Rodney told her.

"Not to mention I'm not ready to tell Cassie that I let someone snatch her husband right out from under my nose," River added. "Let's give it a little while and see if we can find them ourselves."


	10. Chapter 10

They didn't split up. They thought about it and discussed it, but decided that they were better off together, despite the fact that they could search more ground separately. They immediately decided that they were, indeed, in a cavern of some sort. The rock walls were smooth, but they were still the same kind of rock that the mountains all around the small planet had been – not concrete or some other kind of building material. It was almost certainly man-made – or _something_-made – because unless it was volcanic or at the bottom of a riverbed, rock just wasn't normally that smooth. Not to mention that if it was _normal_ rock, it wouldn't be as light in the cavern as it was. Normal rocks didn't give off a soft glow that made things dim, like the time of day right after the sun set, or right before the sun rose.

They'd walked toward the closest wall and followed it, moving somewhat counter clockwise since the cavern seemed to be somewhat round. The dirt floor didn't kick up a lot of dust, but they both thought that there must be some kind of fresh air getting into the place since it didn't smell stale like it normally might have. Between the lack of true light – they used their flashlights sparingly to conserve the batteries – and the walls all around them, both were glad they weren't claustrophobic.

"Any idea what we're going to do if we don't find an exit?" Sheppard asked after about half an hour of walking and absolutely nothing but rock and dirt around them.

"How much C-4 do you have?"

Since they both probably had the same equipment – which was to say whatever was in their vests and pockets – chances were John didn't have any more than he did.

"Two sticks."

About 6 ounces total. Which was exactly what Ian had as well.

"If we find a weak spot we can try to blow some kind of opening. Maybe we can get a radio signal through that way."

Since it was as good a plan as any at the moment, he nodded, but then ran the light from his flashlight along the wall ahead of them like he had done every ten feet or so.

"Got something…"

Ian's light joined his a moment later and they both stopped. In the smooth rock someone had engraved a few lines of script. Both of them live in Atlantis and both spoke Ancient to some degree – although Ian spoke and read it far more fluently than Sheppard did – so they both recognized the writing for what it was.

"_In blood comes the truth of the line…"_ Ian read aloud.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I can _read_ it," Brooks told him with a shrug. "Doesn't mean I _understand_ it. It might have been written by some lunatic who wasn't even Ancient."

"Maybe the last poor sucker who got trapped in here."

"Maybe the ones who built the place."

"True."

Ian ran his hand along the writing, looking for anything else that might have been written but might have faded or eroded with time. The moment his hand touched the wall there was a brief moment when they both felt that same tingling that they'd felt before on the beach, and suddenly a very small section of the wall cracked in front of them and a platform about the size of a regular clipboard slid out from the crack. On it was the outline of a hand.

"Well that's pretty obvious," Sheppard said as they both shined their lights on it.

"Want me to do the honors?" Ian asked.

"No. If something attacks me, you can put me back together again. I can't do the same for you. Better that I take the risk."

Ian didn't like it, but he understood the reasoning behind it. Besides, Sheppard technically outranked him, so it was his decision anyway.

"Be careful."

"If it suddenly grabs me I'm going to scream like a girl."

They both grinned at that, and John reached his hand out and placed it against the handprint on the platform.

"Is it-"

"_Ouch_!"

Sheppard jerked his hand away, and the light from Ian's flashlight showed a smear of crimson.

"What'd it do?" he asked, his hand immediately going to Sheppard's bare forearm, instantly checking him for any sign of poison or other substance.

"Stabbed me," John told him, looking down at his hand.

There was a small puncture wound right in the middle of his palm.

"There's no poison," Ian said.

"It is not designed to injure," said a voice from the dimness beyond their lights. "But to test."

Both men brought their flashlights up in one hand and their side arms up in the other. From out of seemingly nowhere there was suddenly a man standing in the cavern with them. No flash of light or any kind of noise that might be associated with beaming technology, and no change in air pressure that would have been cause by him coming through some opening in the walls near by.

He was older than both of them, but whether by ten years or fifty it was hard to tell from looking at him. His eyes were clear and pale, and his hair was just as dark as Ian's or Sheppard's. He raised a hand, showing them that it was empty, but didn't look at all afraid of the weapons they had trained on him.

"Who are you?" Sheppard asked.

"Eriek."

"What is it designed to test?" Ian asked.

"Your bloodline, of course," came the reply.

"To see if we're Ancients?"

"To see if you're _descended_ from them," Eriek corrected. "There are no more Ancients. But their seed lives on."

Sheppard scowled, shifting his flashlight to the same hand as his gun and wiping his bloody palm off on his pants.

"You could have _asked_."

"You might have lied. This way I know for certain."

"What does it matter if we are?" Ian asked. "There's nothing here."

It wasn't like the guy was guarding a treasure chest or something.

Eriek smiled. A secret smile that made both of them think of McKay at his most smug.

"So you _think_…"

Sheppard made a show of taking a thorough look around them, and then shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure…"

Eriek clapped his hands together once. The noise was like a thunderclap in the cavern, echoing all around them. Before it had faded completely away there was a brilliant light that blinded both of them momentarily and when they could see again they both found themselves in the middle of a huge chamber instead of the cavern they'd been walking through. In the middle of the chamber was a globe – about the size of a beach ball – that was floating about twenty feet off the floor, spinning idly above them.

"What is it?" Sheppard asked, using the hand to shield his eyes from the glow that was emanating from the thing. "A weapon?"

"It's the future of my people," Eriek told them. "And yours."


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note:_

_Okay, I'm really really sorry about the long wait on this. Talk about being blocked! But I'm back on it, now I promise. Thank you for your patience._

OOOOOOOO

"Seriously, how are we going to get them out of there?"

"Relax, Rodney," River told him, glancing over his shoulder. "We'll get them. We just need to find the door."

"And if there _isn't_ one?"

Ronon scowled. He didn't like the way Sheppard and Brooks had vanished without any kind of fight.

"Then we _make_ one."

"It's not that simple," McKay said, with only a little more patience than normal. "A beam came in and _kidnapped_ them from a cloaked Ancient vessel… Whatever did that can almost certainly keep that same vessel from blowing a hole in the mountain that probably houses it."

"If we decide we need help we can go get some," River said, reasonably. He wasn't worried yet, because even though McKay was right about the technology needed to do what had been done, whoever it was had been foolish enough to kidnap Ian. Who was bright enough to think his way out of a lot of trouble – and was with _Sheppard_, who River admired and liked. Between those two, Hayden was relatively sure they'd be able to keep themselves safe until help came.

"And if we can't _make_ a door?" McKay asked, not as certain as River – and far more pessimistic by nature than the Californian.

"_Cassandra_ can."

They all knew that he wasn't talking about Ian's wife.

McKay leaned back a little in his chair.

"Good point."

Provided they were still alive.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Ian scowled up at the glowing ball that was hovering above them while Sheppard glanced over at Eriek.

"What do you mean?" John asked. "What is it? A weapon?"

The man shook his head.

"No. It's more amazing than any weapon you could imagine…"

"An energy source?" Ian asked, looking over at Eriek as well, now. An Ancient energy source he'd never heard of? _That_ would be something worth finding.

"Perhaps."

Ian had never really been one for guessing games, no matter who it was that was trying to play it – aside from his boys, of course, but that didn't count. And he definitely didn't like evasive answers. If the old coot wanted to keep his energy source to himself, fine. Ian and the others didn't need it. Not really. And he wanted to get home.

"Right. Well, if you know where the _door_ is, point it out to us and we'll leave you to whatever it is you're working on…"

Eriek looked surprised at the disinterest; Sheppard looked over at Ian as well, but didn't say anything.

"There is no door. The device brought you here to assist me."

"Then it can pop us back out. I'm ready to go."

John nodded.

"Looks like you have everything in hand here…" he agreed. "I can't think of anything _we_ could tell you about it. We've never seen it before."

"The device brought you because you carry the blood of the Ancients."

It wasn't really a question, although there was definitely a challenge in his expression that made both men scowl. They hadn't missed the fact that there was blood smeared on the older man's hand in the same place that John's hand had been pierced by the device.

"Does it _need_ the blood of the Ancients?" Sheppard asked.

"I do."

"_You_ don't have it?" Ian asked – and now the challenge was his own.

"I _do_, but it's not that common. My people have been searching for many years for this place – and someone with the blood to help us learn to use it."

"You're not from here?"

"I am not. My kind are scholars – advanced, but not-"

"What about the people who lived here?" Sheppard asked.

"They are of no concern," Eriek said, dismissively. "They were not even aware of this place."

Ian scowled but Eriek probably didn't notice it. His attention was on Sheppard.

"They did not possess the blood of Ancients and could not use this device at any rate."

"Why not?" Ian asked. "What does it do?

"He doesn't _know_ what it does," Sheppard decided. He was better than Ian when it came to reading people, after all.

Ian looked over at him and then at Eriek, who scowled.

"We know what it _does_," he replied. "Sort of."

"What does it do?"

"I can't tell you."

There was a long moment and then Ian made an annoyed noise.

"Right. Like I said… where's the door? We're out of here."

"I can't _tell_ you because you'll abuse it. We can't risk-"

"We didn't even _ask_ to come here, remember?" Sheppard pointed out.

"Our greatest scholars have studied the few writings and records we have found that mention this device," Eriek told them after a moment's hesitation. "They believe that this device will move a person with the blood of the Ancients to a place where they will have untold power."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow at that.

"Really?"

"We are not certain."

"Has it done it?" Ian asked. "Where are the rest of your people?"

"Untold power does not come without sacrifice," Eriek replied, evasively enough that Ian wished he could see the man's face more clearly in the dim light given off by the glowing ball floating above them. "The records mention that as well."

"What kind of sacrifice?" John asked.

"Human sacrifice."


	12. Chapter 12

That made both of them take a half step back, and hands automatically brushed against the sidearms they were carrying.

"You _killed_ them?" Sheppard asked, his voice unbelieving and tense. "All of them?"

Eriek shook his head.

"We didn't kill any of them. I told you; _they_ don't mean anything to us."

"But you just said-"

"I said the device requires human sacrifice, not that we killed any of the people that live here. The device requires the person to sacrifice _themselves_ – not others."

"But if they're dead, then how-"

"I told you we don't understand the device," Eriek snapped. "That's what I need _you_ for."

"I'm not killing myself just to see what-"

Eriek waved his hand, stopping John from completing his sentence.

"We don't know you; we certainly don't want you to have unlimited power."

"So exactly how many of your people have killed themselves trying to get this power?" Ian asked.

"Almost all of them."

"How many have you heard from since?" Sheppard asked, sarcastically.

"They are undoubtedly busy learning to use their powers and haven't had a chance, yet, to return."

Ian and Sheppard exchanged a disbelieving look, clearly wondering just how much of what Eriek said they could believe and what was the rambling of someone who was almost certainly not all there.

"So…" Ian asked, looking around with exaggeration. "If they've sacrificed themselves… where are they?"

"What?"

"Their _bodies_," John asked. "Where are they?"

"They vanished in the light," Eriek told them.

"So… What exactly do you want from us, then?" Ian asked, losing patience.

"If you are flying Ancient machines, then you know about their technology," he told them. "My people are not here to instruct me – so I need you to help me figure out if what they have done is the correct way to activate the device."

"Why would we do that?" Sheppard asked.

"Because when I have become all powerful, I will return and reward you with anything you desire."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"I think I found something…" McKay said, suddenly, looking up from the laptop he'd been studying nonstop for the last three passes over the entire mountain range.

River looked over.

"What?"

"Head out over the water…"

"What?"

McKay gestured toward the left – where the ocean was glinting in the sunlight.

"The big blue wet thing…" he said. "There. Go. Now."

Teyla and Ronon both leaned forward. If McKay thought he had something then he must have found something very interesting.

"Where exactly are we going?" River asked as they left the land behind them rather swiftly and were now flying over a seemingly endless expanse of ocean.

"Just keep going," McKay told him, not looking up from his laptop. "But slow down a little. I don't want to miss it…"

"Miss what?" Teyla asked.

"I'll tell you as soon as I-" he cut himself off and looked up at the HUD, which was only showing a blank area of water. He tapped a couple keys on the laptop and suddenly a small red dot appeared on the HUD. "Go there," he told River.

The Californian frowned.

"That's under water."

McKay made a slightly pained look, but nodded.

"That's where we need to go."

"What is it?" asked Ronon.

"A faint power source," came the reply from Rodney – who was once more looking at his laptop.

"Why do we need to go _there_?" Ronon challenged. "We need to find Sheppard and Brooks. They're in the mountain."

"We don't know that for certain," McKay told him. "And we can't get _into_ the mountain. If we figure out what is making this anomaly, we might be able to either find them, or at least turn it off and see if it helps _them_ somehow get back to us."

"Hang on…" River warned them as he angled the Gateship down towards the water. There was a slight jolt as they made the transition from aircraft to submarine, but a moment later they were under the surface, but the water was clear and the sun was still strong enough to give them plenty of light.

"I see a lot of startled fish, but not much of anything else," Teyla said, looking over River's shoulder out the front view.

"We're not there yet," Rodney replied.

"What are we looking for?" Ronon asked, impatiently. "Do-"

"I'd say _that_ is a pretty good bet," River interrupted, drawing all their attention forward once more.

The water was murkier now, proving that they'd descended several hundred feet – maybe more – but the looming form in front of them was darker than the water around it.

"It's a pyramid," McKay said, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping a little.

River wanted to deny it, but there was no way he could. The sensors were able to give him an accurate scan of the area around them, and there was no denying the shape of the mountain in front of them.

"Perhaps it is natural?" Teyla asked.

They didn't have any pyramids – natural or otherwise – where she was from, but she knew that there were several on Earth, and on many other planets.

"Not like that," River said, shaking his head.

Rodney nodded his agreement.

"Water would have eroded the top and the edges," he said, going into lecture mode automatically. "The thing is huge…"

"And the source of the power signature you were getting," River added, pointing at the HUD once more, where the small red blip had grown into a much larger one.

"Yes."

"So what do we do now?" Ronon asked. "I don't see a-"

"I just lost controls," River told them, interrupting. He was pulling on the controls of the Gateship, but they weren't responding. Instead, they could all see that they'd suddenly started diving at a much steeper decline than River had been taking them.

"Pull up," McKay told him. "You're going to ram it."

The Californian scowled.

"What part of _I just lost controls_ did you not understand, McKay? I _can't_ pull up."

Rodney tapped a couple keys on the laptop, and then on the panel in front of him.

"Power levels are fine. There's nothing wrong with the controls."

"Then you try to pull up, because it isn't doing anything for me."

Rodney did just that, but he didn't have any more luck than River had.

"It has to be some kind of tractor beam or something…" he muttered, looking at the controls and then at the laptop again. "Systems are fine."

"What's that?" Ronon asked, pointing ahead of them.

River looked up from his controls and Rodney looked up from his laptop. Both of them looked in time to see the small opening in the side of the wall in front of them open up. If they couldn't get control of the ship back, it was clear that was where they were going to be heading.

"Well… crap…"


	13. Chapter 13

"I can't get control back," River said, finally letting go of the controls for the Gateship since he couldn't use them anyway. He stood up and reached over for the P9-0 that was leaned against the back of his seat for easy access and clipped it to his vest. As he did so, Ronon loosened the thong that held his own sidearm in its holster and Teyla checked both her Beretta and the P90 she carried. Rodney gave them a slightly pained look, and went back to tapping anxiously at the keyboard to his laptop.

"There's a force field of some kind holding back the water," he said as they neared the entrance in the huge pyramid. "It's going to have to come down in order to take us in, but I don't think I'll be able to do anything to flood the place out and-"

He looked up as the nose of the Gateship slid into the gaping opening, and scowled. The water wasn't entering with them, proving that the shield was still up, but it was clear they were transitioning from being under water to being in open air once more – although it was so dark that they couldn't see anything in front of them and the sensors of the little ship weren't showing them anything either.

"That's impossible…" River said, leaning over the control panel to try and get a better look at the walls of the entrance as they passed it on their way in. "There's no way the shield-"

"They have better technology than we do," Rodney interrupted. His voice was a mixture of worry, jealousy and just a bit of excitement – despite the danger. There was always the chance that he'd be able to _learn_ some of that technology, after all. Unless he died, of course. He looked down at the readouts on his laptop, which were streaming in from the Gateship's computer and sensors. "It's a big room," he said. "That's all we've got so far. Just-"

He was interrupted by a brilliant light that came on as quickly as if someone had hit a switch. They all shielded their eyes as the Gateship automatically adjusted the front view to dim the light enough that they weren't in danger of being blinded. The sensors adjusted themselves as well, and the HUD showed them just how large the room really was just as they all lowered their hands to get their own look.

"Oh, my…"

The place wasn't just big; it was enormous. The ceiling was so high that they couldn't see it – although the sensors were telling them that it was more than a thousand feet above them. The walls were visible, but so far away they might as well not be.

"There's no way it's that tall," River said, looking at the HUD. "We didn't go that far down into the water."

"You don't know that," Rodney said, automatically, even though when he thought about it, he had to agree. He looked up, frowning. "You know… it almost seems familiar, somehow."

"You've been here?" Ronon asked, standing up. He was ready to leave the Gateship and find out what was going on, where they were and who had brought them here. Even more important to him; he was ready to show them that they had made a huge mistake.

"I didn't say that," McKay said. "I just-"

"Think we should go see if we can find anyone?" River interrupted.

As far as the sensors were concerned, the air outside the Gateship was perfect for them and the surface the little ship had been set down on was solid.

"I think we should let them come to us," Rodney replied. He noticed Ronon's scowl and rolled his eyes. "Fine. We can wait _outside_ for them to come to us."

They all stood up, then, and since he was closest to the rear, it was Ronon who slapped open the rear hatch. The ramp lowered and McKay hesitated as the others went out, breathing the air carefully and looking around warily.

"Guys… this really looks a lot like-"

"_Holy crap!"_

River's shout of surprise brought Rodney scrambling down the ramp so quickly he stumbled, and Teyla and Ronon both whirled, weapons out and ready. And looked up. _Way_ up. It took a lot to impress Rodney McKay. Even more to leave him almost speechless. This was definitely one of those things.

"Oh, my God…"

Standing in front of them was a giant. A great big giant that seemed to be almost ethereal. It was big and bald and naked – although it also became a little wispy from the waist down, so they couldn't be sure about the whole naked thing. Not that they cared. It – he? – looked down at them with no expression on its face, but before any of them could decide that it wasn't real, or was a hologram, it opened its mouth and spoke to them. In what was clearly Ancient.

"_The enemy of my enemy is my friend."_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"You're kidding, right?"

Eriek frowned.

"_Kidding_?"

"Joking?" Sheppard said. "Messing with us? Playing around?"

The older man frowned.

"Why would you think that? Imagine the reward that will be yours if you assist me. Power! Wealth! Even the woman of your dreams…" he added slyly.

Ian scowled.

"We don't need any of that," he replied. "What we-"

"A _man_, then…?"

Now Sheppard scowled, too.

"Look. Thanks for the offer, but we don't know any more about this technology than you do. Probably even less."

He wasn't about to mention that the one person who could probably figure it out was almost certainly outside somewhere looking for them. Ian was brilliant, and knew a lot about the Ancients, but McKay was a genius when it came to alien technology. Of course, the last thing he wanted was for Eriek to grab Rodney as well. Especially since there was always the chance that he might decide to use them as leverage against getting Rodney to figure out the technology of the floating ball.

"You fly the Ancients' ship," Eriek replied.

"Because we have the right _bloodlines_," Ian snapped. "Like it says on the wall, there."

"The device brought you here," Eriek insisted. "It must have known I would need you."

Ian stifled an annoyed sigh, deciding that he had to be talking to someone crazy and knowing full well that if the old guy was off his rocker then shouting at him wasn't going to get them anywhere.

"Maybe it brought us here so we could witness _you_ trying to use the device?"

Sheppard glanced over at him, but then looked back.

"Yeah…" he said, playing along. "Maybe you just need a little moral support."

Or maybe he needed to just vanish in a bright light so they could figure out where the door was in peace.

The old man hesitated, frowning at them as he considered that. Finally, though, he shook his head.

"No. If I fail there will be no one left to rescue Heliou. I can't risk attempting it without being certain it will work."

Ian frowned, realizing that Eriek had probably let something slip he hadn't intended to.

"Heliou?" he asked.

The man's eyes narrowed.

"What do you know of her?"

"We know _you_ just said her name," Sheppard told him, quickly, before he could assume they were working against him. "Who is she?"

Another hesitation, and then-

"My daughter."


	14. Chapter 14

"What the hell does that-"

Rodney stepped forward, raising his hand in front of River to keep him from speaking.

"We're enemies of the Goa'uld," he told the giant. "_And_ the Wraith."

"Why-"

"Be _quiet_," McKay hissed as Ronon started to ask the question. "Trust me on this one."

The big Satedan scowled, but he didn't finish his question, and Rodney looked expectantly up at the giant once more.

The stern visage of the giant brightened just a little, and he nodded.

"Then we are friends," he told them, still speaking flawless Ancient. "The Wraith are the enemy of all."

"Right." Rodney didn't seem to know what else to say to that particular comment, but he had plenty of other questions now that they'd opened communications. "We're from Atlantis," he said. "And from Earth."

The giant nodded.

"I am Tlaloc. You fly an aircraft of the Old ones. But you do not carry their blood. How is this possible?"

"We found them," Rodney said. "On Atlantis. We have others among our people who have the gene of the Ancients naturally, and our doctors used their blood to show us how to make our own work with the Ancients' technology."

The giant frowned – which was even more hideous on it than the expression was on Ronon.

"For _good_, though," Rodney added, seeing the look. "To fight the Wraith."

"I see. And how does that battle fare?"

"We're winning," River said, stepping forward and ignoring McKay's annoyed look. "But we're looking for some friends right now. They were in our ship with us, until something grabbed them and beamed them out without asking."

"The two Blooded ones," the giant told him. "They were taken to be tested."

"By you?"

"By the orb that protects the way _to_ us," the giant corrected him.

"The orb?" River repeated. "Where is it? How do we get them back?"

"How did _we_ get here and _they_ didn't?" Rodney asked. "If they have the Blood of the Ancients – which they both do naturally – then they should be here and not us."

"The orb attracts all Blooded ones to it," the giant explained. "If they are willing to undergo the test, and pure of character, then they will be allowed to pass into the next plane of existence – or come and join us."

"And if they are not?" Teyla asked.

"Then they fail the test and are destroyed."

"How many pass?" Ronon asked.

"None."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Heliou is the only one left of the Blood on the outside," Eriek told them. "She cannot pass into this place because of the babe that she carries."

Ian frowned, glancing over at Sheppard before looking back to their host.

"She's pregnant?"

"Yes. And until she delivers, she cannot join me here. So I must find the way to the power so I can bring her here on my own. She is in danger outside."

"From who?" John asked, hesitantly. "The same ones that killed all the people out there?"

Eriek nodded.

"Those of us with the Blood were _here _when they first arrived – aside from Heliou. They spoke with those outside, and claimed to come in peace, looking for a way to fight the Wraith."

"And then what happened?" Ian asked.

"They found out about this place. About the power that we are seeking to control."

"From Heliou?"

"No. From the others."

"They knew about it?"

"Of course. It was their duty to provide for those of us who had not yet entered this place."

Sheppard frowned.

"And they did?"

"Of course. They have for many generations."

"Why?" Ian asked. "What did you do for them?"

"We alone hold the promise of the power. When my people figure out how to use it, we will become their gods and protect them."

"And they believed that?"

"It is true."

"So you guys just came here and told them to start doing your bidding and they _did_?"

It was Eriek's turn to look annoyed.

"My people are not conquerors. We are scientists. The others are those who were born among us without the Blood and have no hope of becoming more than what they are born to."

"They're _your_ people?" Sheppard asked.

"No. _My_ people carry the Blood of the power. Those who lived outside did not. Only a few bore children with the Blood. Most did not, and those children had no future."

"They were still _people_, damn it," John snapped, furious at the cavalier treatment of those who weren't in the select caste. "You should have saved them."

"I am the only one here," Eriek said. "And I do not possess the power, yet. How would I defeat these Genii alone?"

Sheppard frowned, looking over at Ian.

"Genii? Ever heard of them?"

Brooks shook his head. Nothing in his Ancient given memories had anything about anyone with that name. And he'd never heard the term since coming to Atlantis, either.

"They're the ones that killed your people?" he asked – just to make sure.

Eriek nodded.

"They slaughtered the people that provide for us – and I cannot find Heliou. They must have taken her – and the babe."


	15. Chapter 15

"Okay…" Ian had had enough and he knew that Sheppard was close to the edge, as well. "We don't have time for this. Our people are looking for us and are probably worried. I don't know who the Genii are, but _they_ didn't carry off your daughter."

"How do you know this?" Eriek asked.

"Because _we_ found her," Sheppard replied. "On our initial sweep through to see if anyone lived here that we might be able to make contact with, we found your people – whether you _claim_ them or not, they were your people – and near the gate we found your daughter."

"She might _not_ be your daughter," Ian added. "But she was pregnant, and there's definitely a resemblance."

"You saw her? She's alive?"

Sheppard hesitated, but then shook his head.

"She didn't make it. We found her too late."

Eriek lowered his head for a moment.

"Then I am the last hope for my people."

"Your people are all _dead_," Ian told him. "Your grand daughter is alive, though. She could use someone right about now."

"The baby lived?"

"We managed to save her, yes."

"Where is she?"

Ian scowled, instantly concerned that he was going to try some dipshit experiment with the infant.

"She's safe."

Eriek turned toward the glowing orb that was still floating gently above them.

"If I learn the power of the device, I could avenge my daughter. And there would be time for me to learn how to use the powers before the baby grows up."

"Or… you could leave the thing alone and raise your granddaughter," Sheppard told him, pointedly, exchanging a look with Ian, who shook his head.

They both knew that nothing would pull him away from the power he was seeking. He hadn't left it to find his daughter, he certainly wasn't going to leave to care for a baby he'd never met. And probably never would.

Eriek shook his head, not looking at them.

"_You_ have the Blood. Your people can care for her until she is old enough to come find me. _Us_. My people are waiting for me. I will be a god…"

Sheppard frowned.

"Hey, that's not the way things-"

The older man raised his hands, mumbling something under his breath that they couldn't understand.

"Hey!" Ian snapped, annoyed at being ignored. "We're not a baby-sitting service, you-"

A brilliant light flashed throughout the entire cavern and he and Sheppard turned away, shielding their eyes. When they turned around only a moment later, they found that they were the only two in the place, and the orb was glowing once more, although slighted muted.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," John said, shaking his head.

Ian scowled, looking around.

"We need to get out of here," he said. "And I'm sure as hell not going to go the same way he went."

Sheppard snorted his agreement.

"What are we going to do about the baby?"

Ian shrugged.

"We'll worry about that later. Right now I'm thinking we need to blow a hole in the wall and see if we can get some radio contact with McKay and the others."

"If they haven't left to go get help by now."

"Even better."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"One more has attempted to join us," Tlaloc said, abruptly.

Rodney looked around.

"_Attempted_?"

"He has failed."

"Who was it?" River asked, looking sick. "Ian or-"

"It was not one of your companions. They are both still in the testing chamber."

"Bring them here," Ronon said.

"They cannot come here without passing the test. It is not allowed."

"Why not?" McKay asked, curiously. "What makes them different – besides having the Ancient gene, that is? I have it and nothing has happened to me."

"For one of the Blood to arrive here means they have reached the next level of existence," Tlaloc explained. "That is something they must achieve on their own."

"You mean ascend?" River asked.

"That is what some have called it, yes."

"I can pretty much assure you that ascension is the last thing on their minds right now," McKay said. "Ian's wife just had a _baby_, and Sheppard turned down the opportunity to ascend a long time ago. They probably just want to find us – like we want to find them."

"Just zap them back to the beach," River suggested.

"They must be given the choice," came the reply. "It is their right."

"So give them the choice," Teyla said. "They are strangers to this world and almost certainly do not understand why they were taken from our ship and put where they are. They will not understand that there is a choice to be made."

"It would be interference."

"And if they kill themselves accidentally setting off your testing device?" McKay asked, annoyed. "How is that fair?"

"They have to consciously choose to take the test," Tlaloc answered. "They cannot activate the orb inadvertently."

McKay looked up at him, alarmed.

"You don't _know_ those two," he protested. "They do lots of things no one thinks they should be able to do. They'll get themselves killed."

"Or worse, accidentally ascend," River added. "We need them here."

"They cannot come here."

"Then on the _beach_," Rodney snapped. "Just not where they can get destroyed."

The giant scowled and crossed his arms over his bare chest.

"It is not allowed. I will not interfere."

"Then let us go," River said. "We need to help them."

Tlaloc looked surprised.

"You are not prisoners. I brought you here to understand who you were and to make sure that you are not a threat. You may leave any time you wish."

Ronon turned immediately, not bothering to say good-bye. Of course that was almost always the case, at any rate. River was right behind him, followed by Teyla, who stopped long enough to make a very slight bow before turning as well. Rodney was the only one who hesitated.

"We could come back, though… right?" he asked.

"Rodney!" River yelled from the back of the Gateship. "Let's _go_!"

"But-"

"Now," Ronon told him.

McKay sighed, looking up at Tlaloc, who watched him impassively but didn't say anything one way or the other. He finally turned on his heel and headed for the Gateship. Facing Cassie without Ian was something that would be far worse than losing access to technology that he would probably be able to discover on his own any way.

"I'm coming."


	16. Chapter 16

Again they stayed together as they walked, but this time there was more purpose in their steps. They were still looking for a way out, yes, but they were also looking for a chink in the armor of rock that surrounded them. Preferably a place where they could put the little C-4 they had and blow it up without taking down the whole cavern – and blowing themselves up as well.

Unnervingly, the glowing orb was following them as they walked. While this afforded them the chance to save the batteries in their flashlights and use the light of the device, it was also a lot like being watched, and it made both of them just a little jumpy.

"Think it'll try to stop us?" Sheppard asked quietly, pointedly not looking over his shoulder at the thing.

Ian shrugged.

"It's technology I've never seen before, so I don't have a clue. I doubt it, though. It didn't stop Eriek from trying to play God."

"Or maybe it _did_," John pointed out.

Which earned him another shrug and the two went back to looking at a section of the wall that they both thought looked promising. It was a slight crack in what was otherwise fairly solid, and low enough to the ground that if they managed to blow a hole through the rock face they might not end up stranded on some mountain cliff waiting for someone to come pick them up.

Ian wasn't that fond of heights, after all, so the lower the better.

"Well?" he asked Sheppard.

"It's the best we've got, I think."

"Yeah."

That's what he thought, too.

John tapped at the crack with the butt of his flashlight and a little more rock crumbled away. After only a minute, he had the hole that he wanted, and he gestured for Ian to hand him what little explosive he had on him. Added to his own, it'd pack enough punch to get them out, he was sure. Or at least cause enough of a ruckus to let McKay and the others know where to look for them.

After packing the explosive into the crack and setting the charge against it, he nodded to Brooks and they both moved away, along the wall but a fair distance from that part of the room.

"Cover," John told him.

There _wasn't_ any cover, but they both turned their heads and tried to protect themselves as well as they could from any rock that might fall.

"Fire in the hole," Sheppard said, pressing the button on the detonator.

The initial explosion was exactly what they'd expected, magnified quite a bit by the volume of open space around them. Again, expected. What they _didn't_ expect was what happened next. Before either had a chance to look around to see if they'd managed to do any good there was another blast, and this one roared around them, deafening them as the explosion brought down the entire cavern on top of them, dust blinding them and choking them at the same time.

OOOOOOOOOO

True to the giant's word, nothing stopped the Gateship from leaving. The same shield that held back the water from the cavern also allowed them to slide through without mishap.

"It wouldn't have killed us to stay a little longer," McKay complained, looking down at his laptop to make sure he was getting sensor readings of everything around them so he could go over it at leisure later. "The technology that we could have gotten our hands on is-"

"We need to figure out how to get Ian and McKay back first," River interrupted. "We can always go back and hit T'laloc up for information later."

Once out of the giant pyramid, Hayden turned the Gateship and headed for the surface.

"What's the plan?" Ronon asked.

River spoke up before Rodney had a chance to open his mouth.

"The testing thing isn't after those of us who have the gene artificially, so we need to go back to Atlantis, grab someone who has it naturally, load them up with enough ordinance to blow their way out of the mountain and bring them back with us."

"Presumably the device will take them to the same place it took Colonels Sheppard and Brooks," Teyla said, nodding her agreement with the plan.

"That's what I'm thinking," River agreed.

"And if it doesn't?" McKay asked.

"Then we call in _Daedalus_ or _Cassandra_ and take the mountain down from the outside."

"I like it," Ronon said approvingly.

McKay grimaced.

"Big shock there." He watched as the water grew lighter and lighter and then they shot out of it completely and were airborne. The mountain range loomed ahead of them, enticingly. "You know, if the Ancients put the ascension device in the mountain, they probably made sure to protect it with technology against whatever we're going to be able to bring against it."

"Meaning what?" Ronon asked.

McKay rolled his eyes.

"Meaning we might get blasted out of the sky if we try to force our way into the mountain."

"We'll have to take that-"

They were interrupted by a huge explosion that lit up the sky in front of them and then filled the viewscreen of the Gateship with clouds and pieces of rock – some larger than the craft itself.

"Hang on!"

River turned the Gateship on its tail and slammed it forward and up, avoiding as many rocks as he could – although they could feel the ship shudder every time the shields caught the brunt of one that he couldn't.

Moments later they were above the force of the explosion, and watched in shock as the dust cleared and the rocks all fell back to the ground.

"Oh my…" Teyla leaned over McKay to get a better look out of the viewscreen.

There was a huge section of the mountain range that was now nothing more than a large pile of debris.

McKay looked down at his laptop, and then his gaze followed hers. His face was pale as he looked over to River.

"I _knew_ they'd blow themselves up," he said, not looking at all smug like he normally did when he was right.


	17. Chapter 17

When the dust and rock settled, Ian was shocked to find himself alive. Even more shocked to feel Sheppard roll over next to him – proving that he was alive, too. They were enclosed in darkness, but the tons of rocks that should have crushed both of them weren't even touching him as near as he could tell, and he rolled over, elbowing John as he did so, earning a curse that probably wasn't really aimed at him.

"What the hell…?"

Sheppard had been holding his flashlight, and had managed to maintain that hold when the mountain had blown up around them. He turned it on while Ian was rolling over and the two of them looked up to see that mountain of rubble literally hovering about six feet above them. There was nothing holding it up that they could see, and it wasn't making that ominous noise that a potential rock fall made just before the ground under it shifted and it turned into a landslide.

Ian looked up at it from where he was sprawled on his back and then over at Sheppard, who was looking up as well.

"That's not normal."

"No. Not so much."

Ian turned on his flashlight as well, swinging the light around to get a better idea of what they were facing. The rock was suspended above them and something had kept them from being choked by all the dust that had been raised. He could see it was still settling around the outer edge of the light.

"Force field?"

Sheppard had been looking around as well, and he shifted, turning a little and sitting up with a groan.

"Looks like it. Or _really_ good luck."

"_We're_ not that lucky."

"No."

"So where did it come from?" Ian asked, sitting up as well and feeling just a slight twinge from getting knocked on his ass. It could have been a lot worse. He looked up. Still might get a lot worse. "It wasn't there before."

_I did it_

They both stopped in mid motion as what could only be described as a voice was suddenly heard in the silence around them.

"Tell me you said that…" John muttered, pulling his sidearm and shining the flashlight again.

"Not me," Ian said, reaching for his Glock. "I _heard_ it, though."

"Which means I'm not going crazy."

"Or we both are." Ian couldn't see anything but rock, no matter how long he stared. "Who said that?"

_I did._

It wasn't even a real voice, he decided. It was in his head – a little like the way Chelani had spoken to him so many years before when he'd been ascended. And a lot like the way Alexander spoke to him. But he knew Sheppard heard it as well – and it definitely _wasn't_ Alexander.

"Who _are_ you?" Sheppard asked, still looking around.

_The Guardian._

"Of that orb?" Ian asked.

_I _am_ the device._

"Then what do you guard?" John asked.

_The path to knowledge and enlightenment._

"You mean _ascension_," Ian said, finally putting it all together.

_It has been called that, yes._

"We weren't _trying_ to ascend," Sheppard told it, just a little grumpily. "We were just looking around and we were brought here."

"Without being asked," Ian added.

_I brought you here. To be tested._

"To see if we would ascend?" Ian asked.

_To give you the opportunity if you so decided to attempt it. Not every one who attempts it succeeds. Most do not._

"Did Eriek?"

_He and those before him sought power, not knowledge or enlightenment. They were not ready for what they searched for. By trying to reach it, they ultimately failed._

"Right…" Sheppard looked around him again. "So what are you planning on doing with us?"

_You tried to eliminate yourselves. Why?_

"We were trying to get the hell out of here," Sheppard said. "The C-4 should have only blown a hole in the wall that would have helped us get in contact with our friends."

_The entire mountain range is laced with rich veins of highly combustible material. You would have been killed had I not held the rock back._

Ian and John exchanged a slightly chagrined look.

"Thanks."

_You are clearly not ready for the power waiting beyond the test._

"We don't _want_ the power waiting beyond the test," Ian pointed out. "We just wanted out."

_You should have asked._

Another look exchanged, and this time it was Sheppard who spoke.

"Can you get us out of here? Please?"

_Of course._

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"We've got to go for help," River said as they looked down at the shattered mountains below them. An area more than twenty miles long had been completely decimated. "If they were there, they're going to need help."

"Are you kidding me?" McKay asked, his face pale. "If they were there, they're dead. We need a recovery team, not a search and rescue."

River scowled.

"They've been in tougher spots before."

"Yeah? When?"

"We need to get back to Atlantis," Ronon said, interrupting. "We'll need-"

He was interrupted by a beep from the sensors – and a simultaneous chime from McKay's laptop. Rodney looked down automatically, and then took a second look, as River gave a whoop from the seat beside him.

"We have two life signs on the beach!"


	18. Chapter 18

The sun was blinding after the dark of the cave, but neither of them were complaining. Sheppard rolled over and sat up, spitting sand since he'd been unceremoniously deposited face-first on the beach, while Ian had landed on his back, but had ended up half buried in a small dune.

"You okay?"

Ian sat up, shaking sand out of his hair and looked around. The water was just as blue as he remembered it, the sand was gorgeous and when he looked over at the mountains he saw that there was a large area that was rubble, towered over by the rest of the range that was still intact.

"Yeah. You?"

"Sand in my pants…"

They snorted, amused, and relieved to be alive and out of the cave they'd been stuck in. Ian heaved himself to his feet, feeling abused but happy to see the sun.

"Where are we, do you think?" he asked, looking around.

"On the beach."

The New Yorker ignored that and tapped his radio, which made a staticky noise in his ear but didn't sound too promising. Of course, between being buried in a mountain and then buried in sand, it probably wasn't that big of a shock that it wasn't working very well.

"Try your radio," he told John. "Mine's probably ruined."

A shadow crossing beside them caused both of them to look up, and Sheppard shaded his eyes against the sun.

"No need."

The Gateship hovered above them a moment before settling about twenty feet from them. The ramp barely touched the sand before Ronon was at the entrance, his normally stoic expression relieved.

"You guys okay?" he asked, walking over, followed now by the others.

"What happened?" Rodney asked, annoyed now that he knew they were okay. "Did you see one of the giants?"

"What?"

"The giants?" Sheppard echoed.

"We only saw one," Teyla said. "There might not be more than just him."

"There are _probably_ more," Rodney corrected. "The way he was talking made it seem as though there probably were. We should go back and-"

"What are you talking about, McKay?" Sheppard interrupted.

"Were you in the mountain?" River asked.

"How else did they blow it up?" Rodney retorted. He realized immediately, however, what Hayden had been getting at, and changed his own questioning. "What was there?"

"A floating orb," John told them. "It's some kind of Ancient ascension device."

"You couldn't make it work?"

"We didn't _want_ to make it work," Ian replied. "Everyone who tries apparently dies."

"Eriek being the latest example," Sheppard added.

"Who?"

"Look," Ian said, holding up a hand. "I'm dirty and tired and I want to go home. We can swap stories once we get there and have a chance to regroup a little. We're not going to find the people who were killed, but we know who did it, now, and I want to know if there's anything in the Ancients' data base about this Genii group."

"But what about the giant?" Rodney asked, not noticing that Teyla started in surprise at the name. "We should go back-"

"He said that the only way to get to him for people with Ancient blood was to be tested," River reminded McKay.

"But he knows about the Ancients," Rodney said, looking pained. "We could-"

"We don't know that he'd share that knowledge," Ronon replied, his voice and expression clearly showing he had no doubt that the giant was going to tell them where to go if they returned asking him a bunch of questions."

"Besides," Sheppard pointed out. "We already know about the Ancients."

"Not everything," Rodney grumbled. "Not about Ascension…"

"Do you want to ascend?" John asked.

"What?" Rodney looked surprised by the question. "No."

"Then let's go home. I have sand in places I don't even want to admit to."

"But…"

They ignored him as they all turned and headed for the Gateship. He heard Sheppard announce he was going to pilot and Ian call shotgun before River had a chance to. He looked over the clear blue water; torn between his inexhaustible craving to learn new things and the only people he had ever really felt a connection with. It didn't take long to decide.

"Fine," he grumbled to himself since no one else was there to hear it. "But I'm coming back as soon as I can…"

The ramp started rising the moment he reached the top.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

An hour later they were all gathered around in one of the briefing rooms back in the city. Cassie had had a chance to check out Ian, who in turn had spent the hour with his newest son; while Beckett had made sure Sheppard hadn't taken any harm from their escapade under the mountain. River had been in the infirmary with Ian, cuddling and cooing over the little girl who watched him with wide-eyed wonder – or maybe just gas.

Now Sam, Cassie, Carson, and Elizabeth joined them. All of who listened with interest as each group told them their own story of what had happened on the planet – with Ian and John going first at Rodney's insistence.

"So you're sure it wasn't this device that killed all the people on the planet?" Sam asked.

Ian nodded.

"It only kills people who try to ascend, apparently."

"Good thing you didn't try…"

Ian shrugged.

"It's never been one of my top priorities."

Cassie smiled, well aware that she and the boys were his top priority.

"Besides," Sheppard added, leaning forward on the table a little and looking over at Teyla. "Eriek told us it was a group who called themselves the Genii…"

Teyla met his glance squarely.

"That is not possible," she said.

"You know these people?" Cassie asked.

"My people have traded with them, in the past. They are simple farmers, nothing more."

"You're sure?" Ian asked.

"I've visited their planet many times."

"Maybe there's more than one group going by the same name…" Sam suggested.

Ronon shook his head.

"I've never heard of them."

Of all of them, including Teyla, he was the one who had been around the most.

"Maybe we should go visit them…" River suggested.

The Californian had been a little subdued since they'd returned from the planet. It wasn't noticeable, really, unless you knew him well, but Ian knew him and recognized it. And thought that he understood what was going on. River had been the one to pull the baby from her mother's dead body, after all, and that was going to make even the most happy-go-lucky person a bit eager for revenge of some kind.

"Did you find anyone by that name in the data bases?" Ian asked McKay.

Rodney shook his head, annoyed at having to admit any kind of failure – even when it wasn't his fault.

"Nothing. No mention of undersea caverns and giants, either, by the way."

"Which means the Ancients didn't know everything," Sam said.

"Or it means they didn't want to share it with anyone," Rodney pointed out.

"The Genii are farmers," Teyla repeated, a bit more firmly.

"It's not our job to police the Pegasus system…" McKay said.

"If they've wiped out one population what's to stop them from doing it again? What's to stop them from taking out the Athosians next time?"

Teyla scowled, but Ronon nodded.

"He has a point."

"They are _farmers_."

"So they say."

"It can't hurt to go say hi…" Ian said, casually. "We could use some fresh vegetables."

She'd allowed them to back her into a corner, but Teyla was never one to back down from what she believed.

"I will take you to them, but to _trade_ with them. Nothing more. You are judging them without evidence."

"I'm not judging them at all," Ian told her. "I just want to get to the bottom of things."

"Fine."


	19. Chapter 19

The Genii home world looked a lot like Earth. Not that this surprised any of the people from Earth; they had long since learned or figured out on their own that conditions that sustained humanoid life were pretty much the same every where they went and that the foliage and insects and the like that survived on Earth could have easily come from any one of the planets here in Pegasus. Luckily, it was a moderate world, with a long – but not hot – growing season, and only short winters.

Which was one of the reasons the Genii were so popular when it came to trading, according to Teyla. There was always extra.

"I don't understand why we couldn't have flown," Rodney complained as they emerged from the gate and out onto an open, grassy clearing. There were scattered trees all around them, but it wasn't heavily forested, and the songs of hundreds of birds seemed to greet them as soon as they'd recovered from being startled by the activation of the Stargate.

"Because the Genii aren't accustomed to such technology," Teyla told him, patiently. "I will not allow them to become frightened by us."

McKay grumbled something under his breath and looked around. One way seemed as good as the other as far as he was concerned, but Teyla certainly seemed to know which way to go, since she pointed off towards one particular set of trees.

"The main settlement is that direction."

"How far?" Sheppard asked. Not because he was worried about the walk, but because he wanted to know how long they should expect to be out of contact with Atlantis.

"An hour or so, perhaps. A little longer if we are slowed down." She pointedly didn't look at McKay.

Ian nodded, and gestured to the two Marines they'd brought with them. Teyla might trust the Genii – and Ian and Sheppard both trusted _her_ – but he and John had both heard Eriek call the people who had slaughtered those on his planet by the same name, and they weren't going to take any chances.

"Advise Atlantis we'll be in touch in about eight hours, and stay here and guard the gate. Let us know if you see anything out of the ordinary."

"Or suspicious," River added.

The Marines knew what they were doing. They both had plenty of experience, which was one of the reasons Ian had chosen them to come along. They saluted and the group turned the direction that Teyla had indicated.

"I will take point," she said as soon as they'd moved out. "The Genii will undoubtedly already know we are here and I want them to know that we are friends."

"That's fine," Ian agreed, without bothering to mention that he wasn't friends with the Genii. She knew he would allow Sheppard to take the lead in the first contact with the Genii. Negotiations and introductions weren't his strong point.

Ian dropped back to take rear guard with Ronon, leaving McKay to walk with River, who was so easy going that the astrophysicist wouldn't annoy him anywhere near as much as he might one of the others, no matter how much griping he did.

"So have you heard of these Genii?" Ian asked Ronon as they walked. Ronon had been around, after all.

The Satedan nodded.

"They grow Tava beans. It's a common food product on many worlds, but not everyone can get them to grow as well as the Genii – from what I've heard."

"Have you met them?"

"Not a lot of need for Tava beans…"

Which, of course, made sense. He'd expected the answer, but it never hurt to ask. Besides, Ronon looked just as suspicious as Sheppard – even more – as they walked. He'd seen the worst of people, and knew from painful experience that even the most innocent looking planet could harbor dark secrets.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Seriously… how much further?"

They'd been walking for about an hour and a half – with several rest stops – but the steady pace that Teyla had set was more than Rodney was willing to take sitting down. Or in this case standing up. His feet were sore, his legs were ached, and he was pretty sure that his pack weighed at least three times what everyone else's did. Otherwise _they'd_ be staggering and short of breath like he was.

"It is not much further," Teyla assured him. Again.

"You said that an hour ago."

"It was ten minutes ago, Rodney," Sheppard corrected.

"I'm tired."

"We are almost there," Teyla told him with far more patience than Ian would have. "I am certain the Genii will have refreshments for you."

"Yeah? And Tava beans to put on my blisters?"

Before she could react to the sarcasm, Ronon suddenly whirled in response to a noise from the trees they'd just reached. His weapon was in his hand before he realized that an older man had just stepped out from cover and was watching them with suspicion. Ian's Glock was in his hand only a moment behind Ronon, and Sheppard and River both reacted just as quickly.

Teyla stepped forward immediately, however, and smiled.

"Tyrus."

The man responded to her greeting with a slight nod, but his eyes never let Ronon's, as if recognizing him as the biggest threat at that moment.

"Teyla Emmagan."

"We are here in peace, Tyrus," she responded, glancing over at the others, obviously telling them to lower their weapons. River complied but the others were still watching Tyrus with just as much uncertainty as he was watching them with. Except Rodney, who hadn't even _reached_ for the gun at his side.

"You come with many strangers."

"Yes. New allies against the Wraith."

He finally turned from Ronon and looked at her, and then the others, studying each of them with an intense gaze that Ian didn't especially like.

"You're here to trade?"

She looked over at John, who shrugged.

"My friends were interested in meeting you."

There was another movement and now a young woman stepped out from the cover of the trees as well. John lowered his gun, as did Ian, but Ronon still hesitated – although he wasn't actually pointing it at anyone now.

The newcomer smiled at Teyla, and looked uncertainly at the men who were with her. Her gaze lingered on Ian, who scowled despite himself, and Sheppard, who answered her look with his most charming smile.

"Hello."

Tyrus scowled at the look that passed between them, stepping between the woman and John.

"This is my daughter, Sora."

"It is good to see you again, Sora," Teyla said, speaking up.

Sora nodded to Teyla.

"And you as well, Teyla Emmagan." She glanced over at Sheppard again. "Who are your friends?"

"This is Colonel John Sheppard, Colonel Ian brooks, Major River Hayden, Ronon Dex and Doctor Rodney McKay. They are allies of my people."

"Are they here to trade?"

"They want to meet you."

"We're always looking for new people," John said, taking the lead since he knew he was better at the whole diplomatic scene that Ian Brooks was. "Teyla said you folks were farmers."

"We grow Tava beans," Tyrus said. "If you are interested in trading, we are always willing to look for new trading partners."

"Well… we're certainly interested in seeing what you have to offer."

Teyla noticed that he hadn't mentioned anything about foodstuffs, and Tyrus looked a little suspicious, but Sora smiled again.

"You and your friends should come to the village, then."

Sheppard's smile was warm, which was a nice counterpart to Ronon's look, which was just as suspicious as Tyrus'.

"We'd be happy to come."

She walked over to take his arm in hers and pointedly ignored the look her father was gracing her with just then.

"We'll lead the way."

They walked off in the direction they already been heading before meeting up with the Genii, and Tyrus stared at their backs for a moment before turning to Teyla and the others, and gesturing for them to follow.

"This way."


	20. Chapter 20

It wasn't far. With John in the lead chatting amicably with Sora about the wildlife on the planet they were on and other very safe topics that had nothing to do with what her people may or may not have done to anyone else Ian was free to be quiet as he walked beside River and Tyrus – who didn't seem to want to talk, either. He was watching his daughter and Sheppard walking with a typical father's distrust. And something more whenever he looked over at the Atlanteans. Which didn't really bother Ian since Ronon was more than making up for that with his own distrustful looks from where he was walking in the rear with McKay. River was being uncharacteristically quiet from his position on their left flank.

"How was the harvest this year, Tyrus?" Teyla asked, stepping up to walk between him and Ian.

The Genii shrugged.

"Better than last. We have had a mild fall and that always increases the crop."

"Good."

She went on to ask about people that she knew, and the conversation was a little less strained now that he was talking to someone he knew – although when Sora put her hand on Sheppard's arm in a friendly touch and laughed softly at some quip he made, the scowls returned in full force.

Luckily, they reached the Genii settlement only a short time later.

OOOOOOOOOO

The place was like pretty much every other farming community that Ian had seen in the Pegasus system – and everywhere _else_ for that matter. A bunch of small buildings that were clearly homes, a few barns for stock and some other buildings to protect the harvest or the equipment that was used to harvest. People looked up from various chores as they entered the main area and children who had been running around and laughing stopped and stared at them.

There was a moment of silence but it only lasted a moment because then a couple of the women smiled as they recognized one of the strangers.

"Teyla!"

The children picked up the cry as well, running over and grinning up at her and the others. Not even Ronon's looming presence could dim the smiles, showing Ian and the others that she was most definitely a favorite.

She smiled down at them and brushed her fingers through the hair of one of the little girls as a group of adults walked over as well. Ian and Ronon exchanged a look because none of these people looked like anything more than simple farmers. Certainly not like a group of people who might have slaughtered an entire population of innocents. Even River seemed to have come to that conclusion because his smile was back full-force and several of the younger women who had walked over to meet the newcomers were blushing prettily.

"Are you here to trade, Teyla?" one of the older men asked, looking at those she had arrived with. "How are your people faring?"

"They are well," she assured him – and the others. "We have found several allies – including these that I have brought to meet you."

Sheppard stepped forward as the introductions were made, and one of the younger men – about Ian's age – looked at the weapons he carried.

"You aren't farmers…"

John smiled and shook his head.

"No, not really."

"But we like to _eat_," Rodney said, pointedly.

His companions rolled their eyes, but several of the Genii smiled.

"Forgive us our lack of courtesy," one said, reaching over and taking his arm. "There is always a stew on in the communal hall. You must refresh yourselves."

With that she led him toward one of the larger buildings. Teyla's hand was quickly snatched by one of the little girls who tugged her along after them, and the others followed with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The stew was good and there was a lot of it. There was also warm bread fresh from a communal oven and large mugs of various drinks to wash their meal down. While the others had eaten, Ian took McKay's laptop and scanner and set it down on the table in front of him. Several of the children from the settlement were seated or standing around him, looking at the technology with undisguised curiosity and practically dancing with excitement at having something new and interesting to look at.

For his part Ian had just sighed when the first of the kids had gotten over their shyness and sidled up to stand beside him. He already knew that it wouldn't do him any good to shoo them away since if they were like any other kid he'd ever met, they wouldn't take any subtle hints to leave him alone and even if he was the jerk he'd once been and sent them away, it would have made the Atlanteans look bad in front of the Genii which would have made it impossible to find out anything about them. And it would have annoyed Teyla to have her friends treated like that.

So he suffered the companionship of the children, and tried very hard to ignore the fact that one of the little girls had rested her elbow on his thigh and was putting her weight on it and giving him a terrible Charlie horse.

"What is it?" asked a boy in a stage whisper that made Ian smile despite himself.

"I don't know," answered another boy. "It's magic…"

"It's not _magic_," Rodney said, his mouth filled with freshly buttered bread. "It just seems that way because this place is so backward. It's a computer."

"What does it do?" the boy asked, ignoring the insult since he hadn't actually figured out that it was one.

"A million different things," McKay said. "Word possessing, pictures, music and data storage. And then you can go online – well not _here_, obviously, but back home – and access even more information."

"What kind of information?" one of the other children asked.

"Everything from astronavigation to movies to por-"

"Lots of different things," Ian interrupted with a scowl at Rodney.

The children looked at the laptop with interest, but they weren't the only ones. Some of the adults were as well.

"That little thing can hold so much information?"

McKay made a smug snort and pulled out the memory card from the laptop and held it up.

"This little thing can hold the knowledge of the Ancients."

Tyrus leaned forward and Ian felt a sudden tenseness in the older man's posture that hadn't been there before. Not even when he'd been watching Sheppard cozen up to his daughter. Ronon must have sensed it as well, because he tensed up a bit, too.

"You carry the knowledge of the Ancients?" Tyrus asked.

McKay hesitated, now, and looked over at Ian, aware that he'd probably given away something that might better have been not mentioned.

"Some of it," he admitted.

"We live on an abandoned planet of the Ancestors," Teyla confirmed, not as hesitant since she trusted the Genii. "They have left some of their knowledge and devices when they abandoned the city."

Sora looked at John with interest.

"It would be something to see, would it not?"

"It's something," Sheppard agreed. "So how about those Tava beans you grow? What do they taste like?"

"I would like to hear more about the city of the Ancients," Tryus said. "There are stories of a group of people from a far away world who live in an Ancient city and fly machines that turn invisible. They are reputed to be the ones who have slowed the advance of the Wraith and are engineering a disease to use against them…"

Ronon scowled.

"Heard that in the Tava fields, did you?" he asked, suspiciously.

Tyrus smiled, but there was no warmth in the gesture.

"We trade with people. They tell us stories."

"You can't believe all stories you hear," John told him. "Most people tend to exaggerate."

"_Do_ you have a ship that turns invisible?" Sora asked him.

"Is there one here?" one of the children who had been following the conversation asked. "Can we see it?"

"If we'd brought it we wouldn't have walked here," Rodney grumbled.

"Does it fly in space?" Tyrus asked. "How big is it?"

"Why do I get the feeling you have other things in mind than delivering Tava beans?" Ian asked.

Now it was the Genii's turn to hesitate. He looked at the other adults in the room and a couple of the older men nodded, slightly.

"Because we have a way of defeating the Wraith," he finally said. "All we need is a way to deliver it to them."


	21. Chapter 21

Teyla was surprised and didn't bother to hide it.

"A means of defeating the Wraith?" she echoed. "What do you mean?"

Tyrus gave her a slightly apologetic smile but his attention was on Ian.

"We have a weapon that we believe will destroy a hive ship. What we need is a way to deliver it to the ship."

"What kind of weapon?" Sheppard asked, looking over at Ronon. Suddenly the Genii had gone from farmers to people who weren't what they appeared to be, and that made them potentially dangerous.

"A deadly one," Tyrus said, evasively.

"A bomb," one of the others added. "But no bomb you've ever seen the likes of before."

"Made out of Tava beans?" Rodney asked, sarcastically.

"I do not understand, Tyrus," Teyla said before anyone could respond to McKay's remark. "You are farmers. What do you know of bombs?"

She hadn't known anything about them until she'd met the people from Atlantis, after all.

"We aren't just farmers, Teyla," the Genii answered. "I am sorry we deceived you and your people, but it was necessary to hide our true motives from people while our scientists attempted to find a solution to the Wraith."

"Seriously?" Rodney asked, looking at them skeptically. It wasn't surprising; there was no indication these people were anything other than what they looked like they were, after all. "Where does one keep a bomb large enough to bring down a hive ship?"

Again with the sarcasm, but rather than be offended, Tyrus gave him a smug smile that held no humor.

"Let me show you…"

He nodded to one of the other men, and the man pulled back his sleeve to reveal what looked like a watch. Until he brought it up to his mouth.

"Commander? We've got company."

"Bring them down."

"Yes, sir."

He looked over at Tyrus, who gestured for a couple of the other Genii to lead the way.

"Please, come with us. You'll like what you see. I promise you."

Teyla glanced over at Ian Brooks, and she could see quite plainly that he wasn't so sure he would. She couldn't help but feel the same way.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Wow… Not exactly what I would expect to find in the basement of a stable…"

Sheppard agreed with River Hayden's statement, silently looking around as they were led down an echoing corridor to a large set of doors that were clearly made out of metal and not wood like the buildings above them had been.

"Rodney?" Teyla had been watching McKay as they walked, and noticed that the interested look had turned to concern as they'd walked deeper under ground. The astrophysicist had pulled out one of his portable sensors and had been watching it intently the entire time.

The question in her voice made the others turn as well, and the group stopped before their escort had reached the doors.

"This place is teeming with radiation…" he muttered, not looking up at them.

"Seriously?" Sheppard asked, looking around. "What kind of radiation?"

"Does it matter?" Rodney asked, looking up. "The real question is where is it coming from?"

"Perhaps it is natural?" Teyla asked.

Ian scowled. He'd been looking over Rodney's shoulder at the scanner.

"Or maybe they're building more than a Tava bean bomb."

"Is it safe for us to be here?" River asked.

"This from the guy who's been basking on the sunny cancer-filled beaches of the world since he was old enough to walk?" McKay snorted. "You're fine, as long as we're not down here for any length of time. I'll let you know if we need to leave."

McKay was hardly the kind to allow himself to stay anywhere that was dangerous, but his curiosity about the bunker they'd found themselves in was overwhelming that normal good sense.

Ian looked back to the escort, who were waiting for them at the closed doors.

"Makes you wonder how long these guys are down here at any time…"

Sheppard nodded.

"Probably _too_ long."

It was reason enough to be careful in their dealings with these folks. Not to mention they'd managed to fool Teyla for years, and both Ian and john were great admirers of the Athosian leader.

They walked over to the doors, and one of the men escorting them pulled out a stout piece of metal and struck it against the door on the right. The sound of the blow echoed for a long moment and the door opened silently. With a smirk at their surprised expressions the leader of the escort gestured for them to lead the way through the door.

Ian walked through first, ready in case it was some kind of ambush, but there wasn't anyone on the other side. Instead it was another corridor, but this time with several doors breaking the monotony of the cold metal. All of them were closed, and the escort moved to lead the way down this corridor as well, not stopping to show them what was inside any of them. They turned and finally found themselves in a large chamber that had a table, some chairs and not much else for furnishing. A lone person sat in the chair at the head of the table, but he stood when they entered, and waved away the escort.

The group filed into the room, all watching him, but also once again looking for some kind of ambush or trap. Ronon hung back a little, certain something or someone was going to jump out at him, but the man simply gave them a slight smile.

"My name is Cowen."

John stepped up.

"John Sheppard, Ian Brooks, Teyla Emmagin, Doctor Rodney McKay, River Hayden and Ronon Dex."

He pointed to each in turn, and the man studied each of them carefully, lingering over Ronon, who he had obviously decided was the most dangerous of the group.

"Who are you?"

"We're a group of explorers," Sheppard replied. "Looking for new people and new allies."

"Against the Wraith?"

"Who else?"

The man hesitated.

"There are other dangers besides the Wraith."

"You mean like building a nuke in an unshielded facility?" Rodney asked, unable to stop the sarcasm. He hated verbal sparring and it was clear that was what Cowen wanted to do. Better to cut to the chase and let him know that he was going to need to do a lot better than that in order to impress McKay.

"A nuke?"

"The bomb you're building…?" McKay clarified.

Cowen paled and then flushed, his eyes widening in surprise and then narrowing with suspicion.

"How did you know?"


	22. Chapter 22

McKay barely controlled the urge to roll his eyes.

"Please." He held up the scanner in his hand. "Everything I'm seeing here points to it – except for the fact that I can't figure out for the life of me how you managed to gather the necessary materials to even get _close_ to an actual working-"

"They have a nuke?" River asked.

"It would appear so," Rodney told him.

"What do you know about these weapons?" Cowen asked, still looking suspicious.

"Oh I don't know…" McKay said, smugly. "_Everything_?"

"Rodney…"

Sheppard's warning fell on deaf ears as McKay warmed up to the subject.

"I've only been able to build one since the 6th grade and even then my-"

"_McKay_!" Ian's voice was a lot sharper than John's, and Rodney wasn't the only one to flinch.

Rodney scowled.

"_What_?"

"Shut up."

"Hey! I-"

Cowen's expression was speculative, now. Something Ian had seen immediately, and Rodney wouldn't have noticed if he'd had a million years to figure it out. Ian didn't like it any more than John, and Ronon definitely tensed a bit as the Genii learned that they had a lot of knowledge that he would almost certainly love to get his hands on.

"We should discuss this," the Genii leader told them, a thin smile on his face. "My people could use all the assistance we can get."

"I thought your people were _farmers_," Teyla said, looking extremely annoyed. No one liked to be tricked, after all.

"It keeps the Wraith from looking for the real danger," Cowen told her. "If they see a farming community then they won't look for anything more treacherous. We have hidden the true mission of my people underground for generations, waiting for the time when we can take the fight to the Wraith instead of bowing to their tyranny and letting them slaughter us."

"Where do you get your materials?" Rodney asked, curiously. "This backwater part of the galaxy doesn't have anything that would be useful for building a bunch of nukes."

"How many are we talking about?" Ian asked. "Just out of curiosity."

Cowen hesitated, but apparently decided to answer.

"We're almost finished with the first one. Once we get over a final hurdle we'll be able to produce them in large numbers – only slowed by how long it takes us to obtain the necessary material."

"Which you get from other places," Sheppard said, making it a statement instead of a question – although it was clearly a question.

"We trade for it," Cowen told him abruptly. He turned his attention to McKay. "Our final problem is how to-"

"Refine the plutonium into weapons grade material without blowing yourself – and your entire bunker – to oblivion," Rodney finished.

Again the Genii leader looked impressed. And excited.

"You know how to solve that problem?"

McKay was always willing to tell someone he was smarter than them, but he was also quick enough to see that it might not be something he wanted to share at the moment. Not with someone that he didn't know – and who Sheppard and Brooks obviously didn't trust.

"Maybe."

The Genii's eyes narrowed at this.

"For a price, perhaps?" he said. "There is much we could offer your people – and you – in return for the information we need."

"And if we don't want to share that information?" John asked.

Cowen tapped a button on the wristband he wore and the door opened again, admitting a small group of armed guards. They didn't actually train their weapons on the Lanteans but the threat was obvious.

"We need that information," he said. "One way or the other."

Teyla was furious, and it showed.

"You would treat a guest like this?"

"For the information I need I would," Cowen told her. "It's to defeat the _Wraith_," he told the rest of them. "Surely that is your goal as well."

"We don't threaten others to obtain our goals," Sheppard told him.

"My people are not as fortunate as yours, perhaps," Cowen replied. "There is no reason this has to get difficult. We have similar needs and can be allies. With your technology and the contacts my people have we could build an arsenal like none never seen before. With it we can destroy the Wraith and bring security to worlds that have only known fear."

He was good at giving rousing speeches, they decided. No wonder he was in charge. Sheppard looked over at Brooks, who clearly wasn't any more impressed than John.

He shook his head.

"No, thanks. Our people have tried the whole nuke thing and it's not really something we want to get involved with here."

The room was quiet for a moment, and the Genii leader finally shook his head in disbelief.

"It wasn't a request," he said, coolly, his demeanor changing. "We need the information you can give us, and we're willing to force it from you. One way or the other."

McKay snorted in disbelief.

"How are you going to get it?" he asked. "I'm not going to tell you anything you want to know."

Cowen pulled a gun out from under his tunic and pointed it at him. McKay lost his amused look immediately.

"Oh."

"Killing him will not get you the information you desire," Teyla said, still seething. She had her P90 in her hands in a light grip, but her finger was on the trigger, now.

"I know," he said. And now the gun was pointed at Teyla instead. "If I kill you – and however many others it takes – then how long will it take for him to be willing to share his-"

"I've seen enough," Ian said, startling them. "We're out of here."

Cowen scowled.

"We're not finished here."

Ian pressed a button on a device in his pocket, and a moment later every weapon held by the Genii vanished in a white light.

Cowen gasped as the gun he'd had pointed at Teyla was suddenly not there.

"Yeah," Ian said. "We are."


	23. Chapter 23

The Genii leader took a step forward, and Ian's Glock was suddenly in his hand and pointed at him.

"That's far enough."

"You _dare_!"

Cowen looked scandalized, but his men weren't moving a step for fear that such a move would cause the death of their leader.

"You started it," Ian told him. "_We_ came in peace and _you_ fucked it up." He looked at the others, but Teyla was the only one who looked shocked at the sudden turn of events.

"You have information my people need, and you dangled it in front of us like a carrot and then yanked it away," Cowen snapped.

"So you threatened murder to get it?" River asked, his tanned face looking furious for the first time many of those who knew him had seen. "This is how your people have managed to evolve?"

"My people have survived."

"Ours have as well," Sheppard replied. "And we've managed to do it without losing our humanity in the process."

"How did you know?" Teyla asked Ian, not turning her gaze from the Genii.

"We didn't. We just didn't trust them as much as you did."

Cowen scowled.

"You've made a huge mistake," he threatened.

"We can settle this man to man," River snapped. "You and me. Right here."

He looked ready to tear the Genii leader apart, and he was and always had been very muscular. Cowen was a fair bit older and not in the best of shape. Considering he'd probably spent far too long in the company of his nukes it wasn't that big of a surprise that he didn't rush to accept River's challenge. He did try to save face, however. He had his own men watching him, after all.

"Our time will come."

"You're poisoning your people keeping them down here," McKay told him. "You should-"

"If you're not willing to help, you're not welcomed here," Cowen interrupted.

Ian nodded, more than ready to go.

"We've seen enough."

"How are we going to get out of here without running into the rest of his goons?" Rodney asked. "We should have…"

He trailed off as Sheppard tapped his communication headset.

"_Cassandra_, this is Sheppard. We're ready to go."

A female voice answered.

"_Roger, Colonel." _

A moment later there was a flash of light and this time the strangers vanished, leaving Cowen and his men looking around in shock. Before anyone spoke, there was another flash of light and their weapons materialized out of thin air, scattered on the floor in a loose pile.

"Amazing…" one of the men said, reaching down and picking up one of the rifles as if unable to believe it was real.

Cowen just scowled, furious at the lost opportunity, and stormed out of the room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

On board _Cassandra_, the group from Atlantis were sitting around a briefing table, enjoying a cup of coffee as the little ship turned and headed back for home. Jennifer Haley, Cassandra's commanding officer, was sitting with them – along with a couple of her senior officers, all listening to the story that they had been minor, albeit _important_, participants of. It wasn't a long story, so it didn't take much time.

"You should have just zapped him out into space," River said, darkly, taking a freshly baked cookie off a plate in front of them and munching on it.

"He's not worth the effort," Sheppard said, shrugging.

"I'd have done it," Ronon muttered.

"So you're pretty sure they're the same ones that took out the population of that planet?" one of Haley's officers asked.

Ian nodded.

"I'd bet they are. I don't know how they cleared out the bodies, but Cowen's a snake and he was pretty quick to threaten us."

"You think he heard about Eriek's secret device and tried to get that information from the people living outside the cave?"

"And when they refused, he killed them?" Ian nodded. "I don't see why not. He was certainly capable of pulling that gun on Teyla and Rodney."

"I still cannot believe it," Teyla said, shaking her head ruefully. "Then Genii trading partnership with my people goes back generations…"

"Lucky for you that your people didn't have anything they needed beyond whatever you traded for to get their Tava beans," Sheppard said. He looked over at Ronon. "I'm surprised they've never approached your people, though. Your weapons are pretty impressive."

His ion canon was, anyway.

"My people didn't share weapons technology," Ronon said. "He wouldn't have gotten far."

"It was smart of you to have _Cassandra_ come and give us backup," McKay said around a mouthful of cookie.

Teyla gave Ian and John sidelong looks.

"Although I do not understand why you did not tell me."

"We didn't want to hurt your feelings," Sheppard told her, slightly defensive. "If they were exactly what you thought they were then we would have just sent _Cassandra_ home. As it was…" he trailed off with another one of his shrugs.

She smiled, not at all offended or hurt.

"I am glad you did."

"Me too," McKay said, reaching for another cookie. "These are way better than what we have at Atlantis."

Ian wasn't the only one who rolled his eyes at that. But he did agree.


	24. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

"So these Genii are a bust?"

Ian nodded, looking at both Jack and his father, who were sitting across from him at the briefing table back in Atlantis.

"They're not someone I'm comfortable spending time with. Especially since I can't trust them further than I can throw Teal'c."

"Sounds like it," Nathan said.

The two had come to Atlantis for a conference – at least that was what was officially on the agenda – but everyone knew it was to see the babies. They had also brought Maggie and the twins back, although they weren't going to be staying since Maggie was planning to take them to Disney Land and they didn't want to miss it. She'd wanted to meet her newest grandson, though, and that was worth the trip right there.

At the moment, however, Ian knew he needed to fill Jack and his dad in on what was happening. Not that Sam wouldn't tell Jack anyway, but this way they could also get the official briefing and all the information they'd gathered on the Genii – and on Eriek's people as well.

"Are you sending anyone back to B-210?" Nathan asked. "To see if you can get back in that underwater cave?"

Ian snorted.

"McKay's driving me crazy asking the same question. I told him that if he can convince Sheppard to take him they're welcomed to try."

"And…?"

"Sheppard's already setting up the mission with his team."

"Well, keep an eye on the Genii," Jack said, standing up and stretching a bit. "They're probably going to cause trouble."

Murray came out from under the table where he'd been keeping an eye on Jack, and O'Neill slapped his side affectionately. Jim and his secret service agents were hovering outside the door of the briefing room, but Murray went everywhere Jack did – just like his grandpa had.

"You should have taken their nuke from them," Nathan told his son. "That's just an accident waiting to happen."

"It's not our job to police the entire system, dad," Ian replied. "We can't be interfering in what people do – but we won't let them get out of hand. And they'll never be allowed to decimate an entire population again."

"Are you guys going to adopt the baby girl?" Nathan asked, kind of liking the idea of having a granddaughter added to his little family.

Ian smiled.

"We _wanted_ to."

"But…?"

"Someone else has a claim to her, as well, and I'm not inclined to fight him for her."

Jack and Nathan both looked confused.

"What are you talking about? Did some Ancients come forward to claim her?"

"Not exactly."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Cassandra asked.

River Hayden grinned down at the baby he was holding.

"Absolutely."

"It's a lot of responsibility."

"I know."

He _did_ know, too. He wasn't worried, though, and he didn't even _look_ worried. Of course, he had a huge network of support behind him if he needed help, and he knew that as well.

"We wouldn't mind taking her. You could be Godfather."

River shook his head.

"I've been thinking about it, Cass. The twins are brilliant – probably they get that from you, but Ian might have had something to do with it, I suppose. There's every chance that _Alex_ is going to be just as smart, since he's got the same genes, after all. What about her? The only girl in a family of boys, and every chance she's just going to be a normal kid? Better that she's with me, where she'll have every chance to _become_ brilliant, but won't have as many expectations if she isn't."

Cassie smiled, realizing he'd thought it through and wasn't making the suggestion spontaneously.

"She's a lucky kid to have someone like you."

The Californian might have blushed at the compliment, but Cassandra couldn't see it under his tan.

"You guys are always telling me to find a nice girl and settle down, after all."

That produced a wry chuckle, and Cassie reached down and touched the infant's little nose gently.

"So, what are you going to name her?"

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Bubba?"

The twins nodded, looking eagerly up at their father.

"No."

"Aw, _dad_…"

"You _like_ that name, though…" Carter added.

"No." Ian looked over at Cassie, who had covered her smile with her hand. "Are you _listening_ to this?"

She nodded.

"I heard. You said they could pick the name…"

Ian scowled, not impressed with her lack of assistance. He leaned over to get to eye level with his sons.

"We are _not_ naming your little brother Alexander _Bubba_ Brooks. What's your second choice?"

"Rodney."

Cassie snorted, and Ian groaned.

"Bubba it is."

"Ian!"

He sighed.

"Fine. Okay. Rodney. Alexander Rodney Brooks."

He shook his head, but the boys had already run off, cheering.

"Rodney is going to be pleased," Cassandra told him.

"I must be out of my mind."

"_You're_ the one said they could choose."

"He probably paid them."

"Maybe. Since River wouldn't name his girl _Meredith_."

Now Ian smiled, and put his arm around her, turning her so he could walk with her back to the infirmary where a large crowd of people were enjoying a little down time with two babies to ooh and aww over.

"Jessica is a pretty name."

"Yeah. I'm surprised he didn't name her Lake, or Stream or something, though."

Cassie laughed and hugged him close as they walked.

"His mother would have killed him."

"Or _Bubba_…"

Another laugh trailed down the corridor after them, but the door closed and cut it off.

OOOOOO

**The End**

_Author's note: So, I'm sorry it took me so long to get this one out, but I hope you guys liked it. We got River settled down finally, and who'd have thunk it ever would have happened?_


End file.
